Typeface Error
by Melda Burke
Summary: Estelle Lomberra, a young epileptic woman beaten down by life, has her world turned on its head when her apartment is burglarized. Her new life with her monster roommates, however, is interrupted when Gaster returns and threatens them all with his newest creation. Sans/OC/Papyrus, implied Undyne/Alphys, and Evil!Gaster. Set in the original universe, post-Mercy Run.
1. Chapter 1

_What did I do to deserve this?_

That was Estelle's first thought when her tired eyes landed on the horrifying sight of her apartment door standing wide open –no, _bashed_ open, if the splinters of wood were any indication. Chips of garish, 1970's style pea-green paint were crushed to powder under her shoes as she cautiously approached. It was probably foolish, she realized, to investigate without calling the police immediately. After all, her unwelcome, uninvited guest might still be lingering about inside.

She slipped her hand into her purse and dialed the number of her local police station. She stepped back from the ruined entrance and slumped down on the steps. Her eyes were drooping with exhaustion and she shivered from the cold. Of course, this had to happen on the day that she'd worked a full 24 hours straight. She couldn't help feeling a bit resentful toward her three co-workers for calling in sick on the same day. Overtime was 'optional', but that hadn't stopped her boss from pushing her to do it. She blinked slowly, owlishly, and found that she didn't care about the break-in as much as she should have. Why should I? She reasoned as she curled her arms to her chest. It wasn't like she had anything much worth stealing. She lived in a poor neighborhood because she was poor; not because she was secretly hoarding mounds of jewelry or a massive home entertainment system.

Her TV was a tiny, 24 inch Sony that was a decade outdated, and her console was an ancient Xbox 360. Beyond those worthless pieces of tech, she had only a burner phone and a junky, low-cost Asus laptop she'd bought five years ago before moving to a suburban college town. The only jewelry she had were a few costume pieces. The majority of her clothing pieces were thrift-store finds that she'd customized to fit her tastes. There was literally nothing to take, but she still dreaded the damages.

Red and blue lights, accompanied by the characteristic Whoop-whoop, indicated that a squad car had just pulled in to the apartment parking lot. Her monster neighbor, Simon, poked his head out of the door. "Eh, that your ride?" He gestured with one paw in the direction of the police. "Sugar, I thought you were as straight-laced as a military boot."

"Hi, Simon." She forced a smile his way. He was a sweet, considerate person and a recent immigrant from the Underground. "Can't believe you didn't hear my apartment being assaulted earlier, but then again, I'm surprised you can hear anything over your music." It was just a gentle dig at a friend, he knew she didn't really mind the fact that he often rocked out next door.

"Mon Dieu!" He exclaimed and let out a surprised whistle when he finally noticed the destroyed shards of her apartment door. "You weren't home when this happened, I should hope?" His words were colored by concern.

She shook her head. "Triple shift at work." She explained.

He nodded sympathetically. His eyes shifted over her shoulder and he grinned widely. "Well, at least you're in good hands." Confused by his statement, she followed his gaze to pay witness to an unfamiliar monster cop striding across the lot. "I know her, she's good people. Trust me, she'll take care of your troubles. Good luck!"

Estelle stood up as she started to feel the vibrations of heavy footfalls coming up the stairs. "Hiya." The cop greeted her as she rounded the corner at the landing below. "The name's Undyne!"

"Hello," Estelle leaned against the side of the stairwell for support. "I'm Estelle Lomberra." She sighed and gestured back at her apartment. "I'm afraid my humble abode has become just a bit more humble recently."

Undyne grinned down at her. "Don't worry 'bout that. Stay out here while I search the place. Perp's probably ditched it by now, but it's not worth risking." The muscular monsteress stealthily slipped into the apartment, while Estelle wondered how it was possible to be so quiet in boots that looked like they belonged in the mosh pit at a KISS concert. After several minutes, she heard Undyne call out to her that it was safe.

Stepping inside, she let out a breath of relief to find that the door had been the main casualty of the break-in. Wood pieces crackled under her feet as she took in the mess that surrounded her. Her cupboards had been ransacked, but thank goodness she'd opted for plastic dishware because all of the contents had been strewn haphazardly over the floor of her modest kitchen. The fridge door was open. "Really?" The burglar had stolen an expensive indulgence; her bottle of chardonnay. She didn't have alcohol often because of her medication, as well as her meager budget, and this loss was a blow directly to her morale.

The television and Xbox were gone, too, unfortunately. She hugged her arms to her body glumly as she blinked back tears. Those weren't worth stealing, but whoever had done this had taken them anyway. Hoping against hope, she felt under her bed for her laptop and breathed a sigh of relief when her fingers brushed the worn, plastic body of the computer. She pulled it out and stared at it like it was the greatest treasure in the world. "A-at least, there's this." She mumbled to herself. Somehow, the thief had missed it.

"You're gonna have to stay somewhere else for a night." Undyne told her bluntly. "That door's busted all to hell. There's no way it is going to keep in any heat and it's supposed to get down below zero tonight."

Estelle ignored her advice; she didn't have anyone to take her in and she didn't have the money for a motel. "I can't. I'll just push the tv stand in front of the door and bundle up. My landlord is a good guy; he'll take care of the door as soon as he can."

Undyne frowned sternly. "Is there anything else that might have been stolen?"

Estelle paled at that question and her eyes darted in the direction of the bathroom. "M-my meds…" She stammered out. She typically only brought her daily dosages with her to work, out of fear of being seen with pills and ending up mugged, so she kept the bottles at home. She ran to the bathroom and threw open the door of the medicine cabinet. It was just as she'd feared. "They s-stole my lamotrigine." She told Undyne in a defeated voice.

"Lamotrigine?"

Estelle fidgeted. "I'm epileptic. I can provide the scripts for it, I promise. I always keep the papers that come with my refills…" She rummaged under the sink and produced the papers."

Undyne's face hardened as she barely glanced over the papers. "Okay, so I'm going to run this by you, just in case I'm misunderstanding this situation." She handed the papers back to Estelle. "You want _me_ to leave an _epileptic_ in an _unsecured apartment at night_ in _-2 degree_ weather?"

"Uh…well, when you put it that way…it doesn't sound…" She rubbed her arms ruefully.

"I'm not supposed to get involved with civilian's personal lives, but there's no way I am letting you stay here." She pulled out her cellphone and dialed a number. She growled into the receiver for a few minutes, but Estelle wasn't paying much attention to what was being said. "Well, I don't know! Why does that matter?" Undyne paused for a moment and groaned. "Fine, I'll ask her! I said I'm askin' her, alright!" She covered the phone with her hand. "You got any allergies to, like, tomatoes or gluten or anything like that?"

"Um…no…"

"She said 'no'. Now, put your brother on." Undyne pinched her nose. "Hey, are you cool with havin' a guest tonight? I got called to some human babe's house for a break-in. She's epileptic and her meds were stolen. Her apartment is trashed. Man, you know I can't just leave that alone. I'm gonna ask Alphys to check in every once in a while, she'd know if something's wrong." Undyne listened intently to whoever was on the other side. "No, I'm not allowed to have passengers. I'm already bending some rules, dude. You'll have to take a shortcut." There was a long break where Undyne said nothing, but her expression was beginning to lighten up. "Right! I owe you one. We'll meet at the bus stop over on Garden Street. Cool. See ya." She clapped Estelle on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I got you. Pack a bag and whatever else you might need; you've got a place to stay now!"

"W-what? Thank you, but I…I'd be imposing on a complete stranger."

"You won't be strangers for long. I totally vouch for these guys. They're not creeps and they're friends of mine. They'll let you stay until you can get a refill on your meds and your door is fixed."

Obviously, this cop wasn't about to budge on her decision. Also, she'd already made the arrangements. Estelle didn't know how to feel about this situation. So, she stuffed a ragged suitcase with enough clothing for three days, a blanket and pillow, toiletries, and her computer. Undyne secured the door shut by nailing a tack into the door frame, which would keep the broken door from opening all the way. "It'll keep out the animals, at least."

"I really appreciate all of this, but you didn't need to go out of your way to-"

"Helpin' people's my job, dude." Undyne waved away her concerns as they walked to the bus stop. "But, between you an' me, I would have done it anyway." She squinted in the dark as a figure came into view. "Well, there's your ride, pal. I'll take your statement up to the station and we'll figure things out from there. I hope we can find your stuff, but, honestly, that's a long shot."

"Yeah, I know. I just have to hope that renter's insurance will cover some of it." Estelle grimaced into her scarf. "Thank you so much, ma'am. I do appreciate this."

"Aw, shuddup." Undyne cackled.

"Is this my impromptu house guest?" Two eye lights flared up in the darkness ahead. "Hey there, doll." A hand was held out to her, but it was completely devoid of flesh and muscle; another monster, but this one was a skeleton. She'd never met or seen this type of monster before, however she kept her curiosity to herself and politely grasped the proffered hand. "Name's Sans."

"I…I'm Stella."

He chuckled to himself. "Heh, _stellar_ to meet ya." He glanced over to Undyne. "I got it from here, Undyne. Alphys's on speed dial if somethin' happens." He grinned in a reassuring manner at Stella. "Alphys is a doctor friend of ours."

"She won't charge you, either." Undyne added.

Tears prickled her eyes, she'd never had people treat her so kindly. "This means so much to me."

"There she goes again, getting all sappy." Undyne rolled her eyes, but she was grinning widely. "Anyway, I gotta get goin'. Ciao, you guys." She took off running back up the road to her car.

Sans turned back to Stella. "You got any sensitivities, like flashing lights or somethin'?"

She shook her head. "They can happen randomly, but when I'm tired…" She suddenly made a sound like a hiccup and jerked forward, nearly catching herself off balance. She recovered quickly. "They happen in clusters when I'm tired or…or nervous…or basically most extreme emotions can trigger them, too. It's kind of hard to explain." She made that little noise again and her entire upper body flinched. "F*uck." She jerked again in the middle of cussing. "Sorry, sorry!" She was supposed to have taken her next dose over an hour ago.

"Ya can't help it." He replied nonchalantly. "C'mon, we're gonna take a shortcut back to my place. Didn't think I'd have to call Alphys so soon."

She wanted to ask him what he meant by a shortcut, but she also didn't want to risk biting her tongue with her next jerk. She'd never experienced a Grand Mal in her life, which she was thankful for, but living with myoclonic seizures was an inconvenience. She mostly suffered these tiny, yet annoying, involuntary body jerks and spasms. Still, she tried hard to avoid skipping doses because the seizures could still be dangerous.

"Get ready." He warned her as he lightly gripped her arm. The world blinked out. For what seemed like both a second and an eternity, her breath was knocked from her lungs, her heart ceased to beat, and she was deaf, mute, and blind. It was as if someone had paused time at the very moment of her death and she was forced to endure that torturous limbo between life and death. And then, her feet hit a hardwood floor and she stumbled backward with a gasp. She fell back on Sans, who was subsequently knocked into the wall. She coughed and coughed, sucking air in like she'd been saved from drowning. When she was finally able to speak, she shakily wiped the sweat from her forehead. "A little more warning, please, if we ever have to do that again." She gulped and glanced at Sans. "On second thought, can we just take the bus next time?"

"Whassamatter, darlin', don't like shortcuts?" Sans teased as he rubbed his shoulder where he'd banged it on the wall. He waved off her apologies. "Don't worry 'bout it, I'm fine." He showed her where she could hang up her jacket. "Hey, Pap! I'm back with the human!"


	2. Chapter 2

***Just a note*** I have epilepsy, yes, these kinds of seizures happen, and yes, they can be dangerous in certain situations. Lamotrigine is a real drug that is taken to treat epilepsy and bipolar disorder and, yes, I have to take it, too.

()()()()()

She was about to insist on taking a look at his shoulder when a ridiculously tall skeleton monster strode into the room and let out a loud growl of frustration. "SANS! I SPECIFICALLY TOLD YOU TO CLEAN UP BEFORE YOU LEFT!"

Stella searched for the source of his agitation and her eyes landed on a rug. More specifically, she was drawn to the massive lump of clutter and goodness-knew-what that was gathered under the rug. Sans shrugged. "I did. Everything is clean."

"Yes, but now the entire problem is under the rug!" Papyrus glared down at his brother as he drew a finger bone over the tv stand. He inspected it and groaned. "You didn't even dust!"

" _Dust_ it really matter?" Sans grinned up at his younger brother with no hint of guilt at all. Papyrus, unable to handle the combination of dirt and puns, threw up his hands in resignation and furiously stormed back into the kitchen to continue his work on dinner.

Stella walked over to the rug-mound and curiously peeked under it. An unsightly mix of dirty clothing and general household filth met her eyes. She let the edge of the rug fall down and turned to inspect the tv stand. Indeed, there was a thin layer of dust covering the entire surface. She wiped her finger on her jeans. "Where do you keep your cleaning supplies?"

Sans pointed at the closed door across from the kitchen doorway. "Closet. Top shelf."

She immediately went to the cleaning closet, retrieved several items, and moved to tackle the rug-monster. This would give her something to do to keep her mind off of the events of the evening. She first attended to the dusting and then did combat with the massive muddle under the rug. All the while, Sans watched her closely as he mumbled into his phone. She was still having the occasional spasm, but they were slowly lessening in intensity and regularity. Another cluster may begin again if she didn't head to bed, but she probably had about an hour or so before they struck again.

She had just finished scooping the dirty clothes into a laundry basket when Papyrus announced that dinner was ready. He was practically horrified that Sans had allowed her to do the work in his stead, but she was able to ease his mind. "No, seriously. It's okay. Cleaning calms me down. I kind of needed something focus on to be able to process what happened."

"Sans, what were you doing that was so important that you let our guest clean our house?!" Papyrus huffed indignantly at his brother as he portioned out the spaghetti.

Sans shrugged. "Alphys wanted me to watch her for a few minutes and describe the seizures, if they happened."

Stella picked at her noodles. "Guys, I've never had a seizure that required medical attention. I'm sure I'll be fine. It's really sweet of you both to be so worried, but there's no need to fuss." She smiled at both skeletons over a forkful of spaghetti. "Thank you for dinner…Papyrus, right?"

The tall skeleton blushed madly. "Stars, I am terribly embarrassed! I forgot to introduce myself! YES! I am the GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS! BANE TO ALL THIEVES AND EVIL-DOERS!" And then he paused and added; " Especially the ones that break into young, defenseless people's apartments!"

She giggled into her napkin. Undyne had been right; she was quickly warming up to both monsters. She was starting to forget the fatigue she'd carried with her into their home. "I'm not _entirely_ defenseless. I keep a BB gun under my pillow back at my house and I carry pepper spray in my purse."

"Regardless, you are much safer here with us! Thieves may not be deterred by non-lethal weapons, but they will surely be cowed by my special attack!" He stated proudly.

At first, she was confused, however, she suddenly recalled that monsters could use a sort of magic that was fuelled by their souls. She'd loved the idea of magic and supernatural things throughout her life. It was a massive point of interest for her, but she thought it would probably be rude of her to ask if he or Sans would demonstrate. Perhaps, if she was lucky, she'd get to see them use it while she was staying with them. "Is monster magic strictly used for combat or does it have other practical uses?" She inquired eagerly.

Papyrus looked quite pleased to explain. "It has many uses beyond violence! It can be used for healing, carrying heavy objects, heating or cooling small spaces, and even for expressing affection!" He was eating his spaghetti ferociously and speed-talking between bites. She wondered if were possible for him to choke because, if so, he might be in danger of doing so. He told her many things about monsters without more prompting, and her head began to swirl with the huge influx of information.

After nearly half an hour, Sans smirked at her. "Ya look a bit tired, Stella."

Papyrus paused in the middle of a sentence and squinted his sockets at her. "Yes, an astute observation, Sans. Human, you must go to bed immediately! I shall take care of the dishes."

She yawned and stretched as she got up from the table. "Thanks again for letting me stay with you. I promise I'll be out of your hair as soon as possible."

"Eh, no rush." Sans said as he followed her out to the couch and watched her set up her nest for the night. "See ya in the AM, doll." He winked out of the living room and she was left alone.

Papyrus left the kitchen soon after and bid her goodnight as well. He made sure she felt comfortable and let her know where the bathroom was if she needed it. "Sleep well, human!" He said over his shoulder as he climbed the stairs to his room.

()()()

The next day was quite busy. She had to call into work and ask if she could switch to the four pm to twelve pm shift, as opposed to her usual eight am to six pm shift, because she had to take care of a lot of stuff during the normal 'business hours' of the day. Her boss pitched a conniption fit because he doubted her story about the break-in. She was still on the phone trying to convince him when she walked downstairs from the bathroom to get something for breakfast out of her suitcase. "Dan, I know that it happened at a rather inconvenient time, but I promise that I wouldn't make something like this up." She calmly assured him, though her patience was becoming strained. "After I drop by the station, I'll need to call my doctor to ask him to make a refill on my prescription because the one I already had was stolen, and then I need to speak to my landlord about the door. There are several other things I need to do, too, including cleaning up my apartment. They were in my fridge, so I don't know if they messed with my food. I'll have to throw out anything that wasn't sealed up in cans. After that, I need to get groceries to replace what I threw out…gosh, Dan, it's just a huge mess."

"I've heard some elaborate stories in my day from employees looking to get out of work, but this really takes the cake." He barked hoarsely over the phone. He'd never really liked her and always used any excuse to work her to the bone. She wasn't even asking for a day off, which was what she'd really wanted, but just to switch shifts. He'd always preferred Danielle and Emily to her, she suspected it had something to do with how he was always leering at them, and gave in whenever they needed time off or wanted a break. Danielle and Emily were extraordinarily good-looking, it was hard to believe neither of them had ever been nor tried to be models. "Unless I see some proof when you show up at four, you're getting written up."

She covered the receiver of the phone with her hand for a moment while she composed herself before she said something angry back. It was illegal for an employer to demand this, but she had no choice. After all, there were so many other people in the world with worse bosses than her own. "Thank you, Dan. I will have some pictures of my door when I come in." He didn't even bother dismissing her; he just hung up the phone after she said that.

She wished he treated her better, but she lacked a lot of the features that probably endeared the other women to him. It wasn't like she wanted him to be attracted to her, that thought made her slightly nauseated, but she just wanted to be treated as an equal employee. Maybe, if she weren't so plain, he'd treat her more or less the same as Danielle and Emily. He didn't even give her the respect he gave Brian, his only male employee, which was humiliating.

She grabbed a can opener from a drawer and set to work on a tin of peaches she'd brought. Papyrus was in the kitchen too, he was making something that smelled absolutely delicious, but she didn't want to impose on them any further. Hopefully, she'd be off their couch fairly soon, too. "Stella, why are you ruining your appetite?" He asked, a perturbed expression on his face, as he stared at the can of peaches.

She chewed quickly. "I…uh…didn't think…well, I just didn't want to…you know…" She wished she was better at talking to people. "I'm sorry, Papyrus. I didn't think you'd be cooking for me, too. I've got to go take care of a bunch of stuff today, but I have to get it all done before four."

"You're still going to work today?! No, I will not allow that!" He nearly spilled egg whites on himself as he used the spoon in his hand to emphasize his words.

"It's not really up to either of us, Papyrus." She smiled at him weakly. She was still tired from her triple shift and the shock of the break-in, but she'd have to suck it up. "I convinced my boss to switch shifts, but he's making me bring in proof that the break-in happened."

Papyrus's brow-bone furrowed in befuddlement. "Why would he have any reason to doubt you? You seem like a perfectly stand-up human to me!"

She scoffed under her breath and grumbled. "Because I'm flat-chested with a face that prompts people to compliment my personality over my looks." She wasn't putting herself down. It was the truth. She just wasn't very attractive physically; nothing about her stood out. Her auburn hair wasn't long or lusciously thick, the lamotrigine had thinned her hair out a bit over the years, and she'd never done anything more complicated than sweeping it up into a ponytail or a braid. Her skin was terribly pale and showed every single imperfection. Her eyes, which were actually dark green, seemed almost black behind her glasses.

Papyrus faced her with the bowl of eggwhites supported by one arm and the other hand still held his spoon. His apron was dusted with splotches of flour. "Well, that's ridiculous! There's nothing wrong with how you look!" He blushed immediately after he said this.

She patted his shoulder lightly. "Thanks. I'll be back tonight after I get off of work. Oh, can I have the address so I can save it to my phone for the trip back?" She pulled out her tiny tracphone and brought up the notepad app. Once she had the address, she told him to let Sans know where she'd gone, just in case he was worried, and then she set off.

Her day was a hard one, to say the least. The only true highlight had been meeting with Undyne again at the police station. They had no leads and Undyne had been upfront about the fact that it wasn't exactly a priority, but she promised Stella that she'd check all of the pawn shops in the city if she had to. The groceries and pill refill had strained her budget immensely; she could only afford ramen and rice. Rent would probably be late next month. Her conversation with her landlord went well because he was a pleasant and understanding man, but he told her that it would take about two weeks to order a new door and have it shipped in.

Work was worse, though, because she was already terribly tired. It was times like this, she thought as she scrubbed at a stain on the bartop, that she wished for change the hardest. Wishing, however, never really got a person anywhere. She could wish that she could have afforded to go to college and get a job that might pay better than this one. She could wish that she'd never started working at this shit-hole bar in the first place. She could wish that her boss didn't steal her tips if he felt like she hadn't worked hard enough. She could wish that she had the confidence to stand up to her overly-possessive boyfriend. No wishes would make any of that come true.

As if on cue, her phone made a noise that signified she had a text. No one ever texted her besides Tyler. She had no friends to text. Tyler had made her cut ties with all of them a few months ago. She wanted him to trust her and wanted to reassure him that she had no intentions of cheating on him with any of them. Sometimes, she wondered if he loved her at all. She knew _he_ was seeing someone else. The clues were there; lame excuses, lack of intimacy, too many canceled dates. All the while, though, he had to know where she was and who she was with. She'd even caught him following her to work once because they'd had a fight and he didn't believe that she really was just heading to work. Still, he'd never hit her. Well, there was that _one_ time and he'd seemed so sorry about it.

Another little 'ding'. She hoped he wouldn't think she was ignoring him. The last time he thought she did that, they'd had the worst fight they'd ever had. She didn't want to lose him. She was afraid to be alone. That was something she could admit to herself these days. She'd been in denial before; when she pretended she liked her privacy. She'd even fooled herself into believing that she liked her cold, empty apartment and listening through her walls to her neighbors enjoying their own lives. That was why she didn't mind Simon's deafening music or the massive parties he often threw. Through the thin walls, plaster dust falling on to her carpet from the vibration of powerful speakers, she could listen and pretend she had a life. She could pretend she didn't work under a perverted, sexist boss in a bar that smelled like a sewer.

She glanced around; there was no one at the bar and there was still about half an hour before any of the regulars came in. Dan was in the back like he usually was and he looked like he was busy with paperwork. She chanced a peek at her phone, but kept her hand below the bar just in case.

Hey, I came to ur apartment. What happened

Where the hell are u ur supposed to be home right now

She bit her lip nervously as she typed back. Sorry, somebody broke in yesterday. I called the cops. I'm staying at a motel. A few seconds later, another purple bubble popped up under his name.

don't lie to me

you don't have money to go out to eat. Theres no way you can afford a motel

She checked around for patrons, but the bar was still empty. Her eyes went to the time at the corner of her phone. She still had another four hours before her shift was over. It's true. I had to use my credit card. My rent's going to be late, but I'll manage. He kept her waiting for a full minute before he replied.

fine, whatever. Did they take any of my stuff?

He wasn't going to ask if she was okay? That hurt a bit. He'd been so loving when they'd first gotten together two months ago. Where had the romance gone? No, they took my tv, Xbox, and my meds

what kind of idiots think they can get high off of epilepsy meds?

She rolled her eyes. He was acting so high and mighty now, but he was the one who used to huff paint thinner. He'd been a desperate addict once, too. maybe they thought they could sell them. They're worth about $30 bucks per bottle.

$30 bucks!? Why didn't u tell me that? We could have sold them ourselves

We can't sell them! She was starting to get angry.

y not?

Are you being serious rn? I need them! She typed back furiously.

oh, come on. No u don't. stop being a bitchy drama queen. Where r u staying?

Motel 6 on Suncrest Blvd. She knew she shouldn't lie, but she really didn't want to see him.

which room

No, I want some space tonight. I'm angry and I don't want to start another fight

God, ur such a bitch sometimes, u no that? Fuck u.

 _Fuck you, too_. She shoved her phone into her pocket a bit more forcefully than was necessary. He was such a huge idiot sometimes. Stella shook her head to clear her mind of the anger that clouded it. The bell on the door tinkled to signal that the rush of bar-hopping drunks was about to begin. She sighed when she noted a few of the more 'handsy' ones searching the bar for her better-looking compatriots.

Some of them, though, had beer goggles and tried to make passes at her. She jokingly batted their clumsy attempts aside. "No, sorry, I've got a boyfriend."

One of them, who went by Will, grinned at her nastily. "Shame. Whaddabout another girl? There are some good lookin' girls in here sometimes."

"Ah…no. They're pretty and I'm not opposed to the idea, but I'm in a relationship." She smiled weakly. She hated this. Why did so many of Dan's customers have to be so creepy? She always felt skeeved out if they hung around toward the end of her shift. It was like they were waiting to get her alone, but she knew better than to harm any of Dan's regulars. He'd be livid if she did and he might even fire her.

"Oh, well." Will made a show of sighing in disappointment. "Woulda been quite a show."

Did…did he just imply that she would let him watch? Even if she were with a woman, she would never _perform_ for him. "We're not that type of establishment." She said in a clipped tone. She had nothing against sex workers, everyone has to do what they can to make a living, but she was not about to let this filthy asswipe talk about her like she was an object. _That's your boyfriend's job_ , an evil little voice whispered at the back of her mind.

The rest of the night passed by in a blur of lewd comments and misery. She snatched her purse off of the hanger on the wall and nodded to Brian as he came in to take the final shift. Technically, they closed at midnight, but the third shift was for cleaning, organizing, and other prep work. Brian smiled back at her. "Rough night?"

She averted her eyes to stare at the ground. "Yeah, sort of."

"I heard about the break-in. Well, more like overheard it." He lowered his voice. "Dan shouldn't have yelled at you. I'm glad you're okay. You _are_ okay, right?"

She forced a thin smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Yeah."

"I know it's not really my business, but if you need anything…" He touched the back of her hand lightly. He arched an eyebrow when he saw her phone light up with another text. "Tyler came by yesterday when I was here. He looked pretty angry. Are things okay between you two?"

"He's mad because I didn't tell him about the burglar. He's…protective, you know how some guys can be." She hid the phone quickly behind her back.

He crossed his arms and caught her eye. "Yeah, I do know how some guys can be. You can tell me if something's wrong." He subtly urged her to say something.

She could hear what he was saying. She understood that he knew, but she was going to pretend that she didn't know that he knew. She was going to do it because she didn't want her life to get any worse than it already was. "No, it's fine. I'm going to have a party for my birthday soon. He'll be over it by then."

"A party? You?" Brian perked up.

"Yeah, when did you decide to have a party?"

They both turned around to see Tyler braced in the doorway. She'd had no intention of actually having a party. She'd just said that to put Brian at ease, but now Tyler had overheard and she was caught in her own web of lies. "Well, um…t-today…I guess. I kind of need to relax a little after everything that has happened, you know?" She watched them both as the air between them was tense.

"Who are you going to invite?" Brian asked in a cool tone as he stared icily at her boyfriend.

"Yeah, babe. Who?" Tyler prompted with a smirk.

"Well, there are some monsters I met. Th-they're friends of the monster cop who helped me out. They…um…offered me a place to stay." She stammered out yet another lie to cover her first. This was getting so hard to keep up with. "She…er…wanted me to stay with them, but I told her I'd just get a motel room. They're really nice, though, Tyler. I think they'd like you."

Fortunately, he laughed. "Sure, they will. Glad you turned 'em down, though. Can't have you sleeping on someone's couch like some kinda bum, am I right?" He reached out and grabbed on to her elbow to jerk her closer. She stumbled a bit, but regained her footing before she fell. "Damn, you are so clumsy." He chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Well, see ya around, Brian." He turned around with Stella in tow. " _What did I say about sticking around to talk to that jerk?_ " He growled into her ear as soon as they were out the door.

"N-not to do it…"

"Do it again and I'll knock your teeth down your throat." He yanked open his car door and pushed her inside. He slammed his door shut after climbing inside. "I'm driving you to that motel. Obviously, I can't even trust you to talk to the right people. How can I trust you when I don't know if you're at work or spreading your legs for some douchebag?"

"I…I'd never cheat on you." She tucked her purse between her legs. She hadn't told Papyrus the real reason she kept a can of pepper spray in her purse. She didn't even want to admit that to herself.

"You better not. No guy would ever treat a bitch like you as good as I do." He snarled over at her before shoving the car into drive and ripping out of the parking lot. His driving scared her to death, but she never dared to comment on it. He sped down the road at a breakneck pace.

Red and blue lights flared up behind them a few minutes later and he cursed as he tried to find a place on the road to pull off. The car stopped when they did and the policeperson stepped out of the vehicle. Stella couldn't believe her eyes because, out of all of the cops in the city, _Undyne_ had pulled them over. She reached the window and seemed bored. "License and registration, ple-…holy, shit. Is that you, punk?" She leaned in the open window, ignoring Tyler's glare, and grinned at Stella. "What's up?"

"Oh, h-hi, Undyne. Undyne, this is my boyfriend Tyler."

Undyne eyed Tyler suspiciously. Her smile vanished and she seemed to be inspecting him closely. "Right, anyway, what's going on with you? Did you get more pills? Is your door fixed?"

"Yeah, I got a refill, but my landlord said my door won't be fixed until a few weeks from now." She hoped against hope that Undyne wouldn't accidentally reveal her lie to Tyler.

Thankfully, he seemed to be more concerned about getting a citation. "Hey, does this mean I'm still getting a ticket?"

Undyne had an expression of astonishment. "Uh…yeah? You were still speeding, dude." She laughed to herself and shook her head as she took out her pen.

"Is this the cop you were going to invite to your birthday party?" Tyler asked with false interest.

"Birthday party?!" Undyne tore her attention away from her ticket pad. "You didn't tell me about a birthday party."

Stella felt like she was being put on the spot as both her new friend and her boyfriend watched her expectantly. "Yeah, well, I just thought of it today, so…you want to?"

"Hell yes! I love parties! Is it cool if I bring a couple of friends? Oh, I know, we should totally have it over at San's and Papyrus's place. They have more room, no offense. I'll call ahead and let 'em know." She flashed her shiny, razor-like teeth in Tyler's direction. "He's coming, too, right?"

Stella nodded stiffly. What had she gotten herself into? "Tyler can't wait to meet everyone. He's glad they were so kind to me."

Undyne frowned. "Why didn't you stay with him?"

"Well, Tyler doesn't really have room in his apartment. I don't want to crowd him." She smiled at her boyfriend, who wasn't looking too happy with the direction of the conversation. "And our relationship isn't really to that point yet."

"Don't you have a ticket quota to fill?" He asked obnoxiously. It was pretty obvious that he wanted her to leave. "We don't want to hold you up on the job, after all."

"Actually, ticket quotas are a myth." She replied. Her scales were bristling along her arms and her amber eyes glared down into the car to pin Tyler under the heavy weight of her disapproval. She ripped the ticket off the pad slowly. "Well, see ya around, punk." She handed the ticket to Tyler and went back to her car.

When she was gone, Tyler glowered at Stella like she'd murdered his grandmother. "You couldn't even get me out of a goddamned ticket? This is a $150 fine!"

"I can't ask her to ignore the law, Tyler!" She shot back. "Why don't you just shut up and drop me off here if you have such a problem with it?"

"Get out and walk then, I don't give a shit." He reached over her seat and popped open the door. "Ungrateful little slut."

"ASSHOLE!" She shouted at him once he had zoomed away. She didn't have the courage to call him that to his face, but it's what he was. She hated him when he was like this, but no matter how awful he acted, having him around was still better than being alone.

It was freezing out and her phone told her that she still had to walk six blocks to get to the skeleton brothers' home. All feeling below her ankles had vanished within two hours. She hoped that she wouldn't end up with chilblains. The cold was so intense that it felt like tiny daggers made of icicles were stabbing into every pore of her skin.

It was nearly 3 am before she made it there, frozen half to death and her face chapped to peeling from the wind. At first, she was so tired a cold that she could do anything except prop herself up against the door. She slid down the wood and buried her face in her arms. Hot tears poured down her face and the salt stung her raw cheeks. She'd mastered the art of crying quietly a long time ago.

"Stella?" Papyrus must have heard her come in. "Stella, why are you so late?! You told us you'd be back at- oh…oh no!" She felt him run up to her, but she didn't feel like she had the strength in her to lift up her head. "SANS! SAAAAANS! I THINK THE HUMAN IS DEAD!"

"'m not dead." She muttered.

"Nah, bro. She just looks _dead-tired_." Sans snarked from somewhere in the room. "She's probably cold, too. How about I pop her blanket in the dryer to warm it up for her and you heat her up some left-overs, 'kay?"

"Excellent idea! You've had a lot of those recently, Sans. I am proud of you!" Papyrus patted Stella's head gently. "Take off that coat. Humans become sick easily when it is damp and cold."

She sniffed a little and a fear took her. She hadn't expected that they would wait up for her. She didn't want them to see that she'd been crying. She tried to wipe the evidence away with her sleeve. "Okay." She let him help her out of the thin, gray coat and hung it up on the rack.

He was regarding her strangely. Well, it wasn't truly strange at all. He was looking at her like he actually cared about her, but it was strange because it had been so long since anyone had ever given half a damn about her. It made her want to break down into tears all over again, but she swallowed back her emotions and reigned herself in. "Why were you so late?" He asked again.

"My boyfriend picked me up from work and was speeding. Undyne pulled us over and we talked. He got upset because I wasn't going to ask Undyne to just give him a warning, so I just got out of the car and walked back here." She used the door to help her get back on her feet. Her feet were still mostly numb from the cold, but they were slowly regaining feeling and starting to itch fiercely.

"Your partner abandoned you on the highway at night?!" Papyrus practically shouted, such was his disgust at this revelation. "This will NOT do! I will not allow the mistreatment of my friends." He seemed to be genuinely upset.

"No, no, Papyrus. It's fine. I'm fine. We just had a fight and I chose to get out of the car. He didn't make me." She toed off her boots and pulled down the slipknot that had secured her scarf around her neck.

"That doesn't matter! A true and gallant person wouldn't have asked you to use your friends in the first place! I will meet this person and I will show him the error of his ways." Papyrus continued to rant about gallantry all the way to the kitchen. She smiled to herself as she listened. He was the sweetest and most thoughtful person she'd ever met. He was also rather passionate about the things he believed in and loved. He had, overall, a fairly refreshing personality.

"If you really insist on giving him a lecture, maybe you should wait until after the party." She told him as he handed her a steamy bowl of homemade tomato soup.

"A party?"

"Yes, my birthday party." She nodded. She was starting to warm up to the idea now that there was no chance of retracting it. Plus, maybe Papyrus could convince Tyler to change a little? She doubted it, but she could always hold out hope. "I invited Undyne when she pulled us over. She wants to bring some friends, so she asked me to ask you if it was alright to have the party here since you two are invited already. She said my apartment was too small." It was also kind of hard to have a party when one's door is smashed to bits.

"Of course!" He hesitated for a second. "Can I please bake your birthday cake?"

"Sure, why would I say no? You're the best cook I know." Her praise made him blush neon orange.

"When's your birthday?" Sans came into the room with her blanket in his arms. Despite her protests, Papyrus took great pains to tuck it in around her. She supposed she should be happy that he let her actually feed herself.

"This Sunday. If that's a bad time, we can put it off for a few days." She offered meekly. The warmth of the blanket was seeping into her, but that wasn't the only thing that was thawing. She was definitely starting to become attached to the brothers.

"Naw, it's good." Sans plopped down by her feet and turned on the television. "Gives us two days to prepare, anyway. Anything ya wishin' for?"

Well, this was ironic. "If I tell you, it won't come true."

He just grinned at her and said nothing back for a little while. She caught him glancing over at her during the commercials a few times, but he kept his peace until Papyrus seemed satisfied that she had recovered from her hike. Pap whisked away the dirty bowl and spoon to clean them up. "Does he hit ya a lot?"

"W-what?" She felt her neck make a little crackle because she whipped her head around so fast.

"I didn't see any bruises." He said just as casually as if they were discussing the weather. "It's easier to hide them in winter. No one questions long sleeves and thick scarves." He leaned back on the arm of the couch and she could see something strange happening to one of his eye lights. It was growing larger and changing to a flaming blue. "Undyne called." He explained.

"It was only one time." Her voice sounded small even to her own ears. The only time he'd ever laid a hand on her she'd called the police and they had probably kept a record of it. Undyne had acted as though she hadn't liked Tyler. She must have looked him up afterward and told Sans. "He hasn't laid a finger on me since. He was-"

"He was angry or he was drunk or he was high or he wasn't thinking straight…" Sans's eye seemed to glow brighter. "Keep making excuses for him and he'll keep giving you reasons to make them. We're gonna have your party, doll, but I don't think your guy's gonna enjoy himself very much."


	3. Chapter 3

Sunday came, the dreaded day, but she put up a decent front for Papyrus because he seemed so excited. She watched him as he stirred, chopped, steamed, and perfected every dish he intended to serve. She was shooed out of the kitchen when it came time for him to make the cake. "It has to be a surprise!"

Her phone vibrated in her pocket the moment she stepped into the living room. whats the address again

254 Castlewick drive.

k. is there food

Yeah, veggie lasagna, scalloped potatoes, lemonade, cake…idk lots of stuff.

Cool. U there already?

Yeah, I've been here since 12 She wasn't feeling as bad about lying to him today. Maybe it was because she wasn't sure what Sans had in store for Tyler. Papyrus had promised to keep his own opinion quiet until the party was over, but Sans…she'd felt uneasy around him for the past few days. Every time he looked at her, she felt like he was looking for more reasons to give her boyfriend a bad time.

Undyne showed up around at a quarter past one and she had two new faces to introduce. "This gorgeous monster is my girlfriend!" She pushed a short, pale, golden lizard monster in front of her proudly.

She adjusted her glasses and smiled shyly. "H-hello. I'm Alphys. Ni-nice to m-meet you." She made a quick escape to hide behind Undyne again.

A tall, androgynous robot followed them in. "Hello, darling. I'd say I've heard a lot about you, but that's an understatement." The monster took her hand like a romantic lead in a cheesy movie and planted a chaste kiss just above her knuckles. "I am Mettaton. I'm quite famous in certain circles. Have you heard of me?"

"I think I have." She wracked her brain because the name sounded familiar. "Don't you have a tv show?"

"And a restaurant and an amazing singing career. There's an upcoming movie, too, but I don't want to spoil it for you." Mettaton teased her before waltzing into the kitchen and exclaiming how delicious everything smelled.

"Don't let Mettaton fool you, he's really kind of a B-list celebrity." Undyne snickered.

"I HEARD THAT, YOU TWO-FACED PIECE OF SUSHI!" Mettaton called out from the next room, but then he immediately popped his head around the doorway. "Just kidding, darling." He amended with a wink and a kiss. "We tease each other all the time." He explained to Stella, who had become somewhat alarmed.

"Any clue when your guy's gonna be here?" It had only been a few days, but she was already becoming comfortable with Sans showing up out of nowhere. If anyone else in the room noticed that there was a hint of a blue spark in his left socket, they said nothing. "Can't start the party without 'im."

Panic settled in her gut like a stone. It sealed her mouth shut as she heard brakes squealing to a halt in the driveway. A knock at the door. "Hey, the life of the party's here!" She let out a breath. He'd chosen to try to make a good impression. He was carrying a couple of brown bags. "Just a present for the birthday girl!" The booze wasn't for her, not really, it was to aid in cultivating his image. He was grinning wildly around the room at everyone. "What's up, cop?" He pressed a bottle into Undyne's hands. "Hope ya don't mind that I haven't paid that ticket yet!" He pulled Stella to her feet and into a loose, one-armed hug that felt just about as fake as his enthusiasm. "You gonna introduce me to everyone or am I gonna have to make a toast with strangers?"

She quickly ran through names, but, judging from his glazed over expression toward the end, he truly couldn't care less. He made his toast, some silly spiel about true love and happiness, and downed his entire glass of wine in one gulp. Papyrus followed the toast by bringing out everything he'd made; a huge pan of vegetable lasagna, a massive pan of scalloped potatoes, a giant pitcher of lemonade, candied yams, and green beans with ham. Everyone dug in with fervor and once they were full to bursting, he brought in the cake.

She actually thought she would cry when she saw it. It was a perfectly round layer cake with chocolate frosting. An elegant edge of darker frosting bordered the face of the cake. The middle held a blooming rose with petals made from strategically layered strawberry slices. "Gods, Papyrus…" Her hands went to her mouth in shock and delight. "This is amazing! How did you make this?" She pushed her phone into Tyler's hands. "Come on, guys! We gotta take a picture with this!" They grouped together, all of them smiling widely and happily.

It nearly hurt to poke the candles in and ruin it, but they were keen on following the human tradition of 'making a wish' on the candles. Sans lit the candles and his grin grew. His words from the other day echoed in her mind and she found that she did wish for something. Unlike any of her other wishes, she sensed that this one would come true. Her breath danced over the tiny flames of the candles and extinguished them all. Her wish rose with the smoke, intangible and unspoken, yet someone had heard it.

"Alright, time to cut the cake!" Tyler poured himself another glass of wine. He was going to get drunk at the rate that he was going. He decided that he should do the honor and cut out a tiny sliver for her. He went on to cut several larger slices for everyone else. She didn't mind because this was something he'd done to her many times before. She ate her cake in silence and simply enjoyed the decadent intermingling of chocolate and strawberry flavors.

"You look like a girl who takes care of herself." Tyler commented as he slid a slice on to Undyne's plate. "I wish I could get Stella to go to the gym with me more often."

Undyne's grin was sharp as a straight razor. "Maybe she'll want to go with me every once in a while. I need a spotter."

Stella smiled at Undyne and opened her mouth to reply, but her boyfriend turned to her and gave her a smirk. "Hear that, hun? Maybe Undyne can help you slim down a bit. I mean, with her muscles, it's a wonder that she isn't a professional trainer or something."

Her smile wobbled a bit as he stared at her pointedly. "Yeah…Undyne's dedication to the gym is pretty impressive."

"It'd be great for you. You should really start going…like today, even." His eyes rolled over her from head to toe and just the way he was looking at her made her feel like she was two feet tall. She wanted nothing more than to just sink into the couch and out of sight.

Over Tyler's shoulder, Sans was glowering at him. Papyrus stared at the human man in disbelief, while Alphys appeared quite shocked. Undyne, however, seemed positively murderous. Only Mettaton had the presence of mind to actually speak. "Oh, really, sweetheart? And why, pray tell, _should_ our dear Stella do that?"

Tyler glanced over at Mettaton and seemed to sense the mood of the room. "I'm not wrong. Am I, hun? You know you're a bit on the pudgy side." He smiled encouragingly at Stella. "I'm just concerned about her health, that's all." Stella couldn't bring herself to respond, so she just averted her gaze to her lap. The heat of embarrassment gathered in her chest and traveled up to her cheeks. The silence felt like knives against her skin as she waited for him to just drop it. "Honestly, she was a complete mess before I came along. Now, she's almost perfect."

" _Almost_?" Mettaton's mouth seemed to twist around the word. "She wasn't perfect before, I suppose?"

Tyler nodded enthusiastically with an air of justification. "God, no. She was so embarrassing sometimes, weren't you?" He prodded Stella with his elbow like he was making an inside joke. "I mean, she was always saying the wrong things and stumbling over herself. I'm really proud of all the changes she's accomplished." He grinned around the room, but the grin died when he realized that no one was smiling anymore. "What?"

"Oh, don't mind us." Mettaton said in a terse falsetto. "Please, go on."

Tyler frowned. "Oh, come on. Don't be so sensitive. She knows she's gotten better because of me, isn't that right?" He nudged Stella a little harder this time, but she had squeezed her eyes shut in an effort to refrain from crying out of mortification.

"I think you s-should leave." Alphys said while wringing her hands. Her eyes were bright with suppressed anger and her face was a bit flushed.

He snatched his jacket off of the back of the couch and stormed over to the door. He paused and snapped at Stella. " _Well_? Didn't you hear your asshole 'friends'? They're kicking us out, so get your lazy, fat ass off the couch for once-"

Several things seemed to happen in the span of a breath; Papyrus calmly, uncharacteristically and chillingly calmly, sat his platter of food on the coffee table, Sans stood up and tucked his hands into his pockets while his grin grew menacingly wide, Undyne started to snarl and magic clouded up around her left hand, and Alphys rushed to Stella. Alphys threaded her fingers through Stella's clenched fists and managed to softly convince her to get up. They left the room quietly.

"You are going to leave right now, human!" Papyrus demanded in a tone that was edging on furious. "You are no longer welcome in our home!"

"Like I give a shit!" Tyler spat back. "I never wanted to be around you ugly-ass monsters in the first place!"

"You probably want to leave, pal. Don't wanna have a bad time now, do ya?" San's left eye light flared bright blue in its socket.

"Actually, I think I'm gonna stay here until Stella decides she's done pouting." Tyler grumbled stubbornly and crossed his arms. "What're you gonna do about that, short stack?"

"Nuthin'." Sans chuckled and glanced over at Undyne. "Say, Undyne, wouldn't ya say that he put his hands on Stella in an unwelcome, non-consensual, and offensive way?"

"Oh dear," Mettaton interjected in a disturbingly sweet voice. "But isn't that battery?"

Undyne stepped forward a little. "Hell, yeah, that is."

Tyler's faux bravado faltered. "Hey, I didn't hurt her! I barely touched her."

"But, ya _did_ touch her and she definitely didn't look like she wanted ya to." Sans's pockets were glowing and seeping smokey, blue energy. "Simple battery doesn't specify that the unwelcome contact has to hurt, does it?"

Undyne shook her head and cackled like a madwoman. "NOPE!"

Papyrus puffed out his chest. "I believe what my friends and brother mean to say is that you are very close to being arrested! I would greatly advise that you leave before that happens!"

Tyler's upper lip was sweating and he fumbled for the doorknob behind him. "Fuckin' fine! I'm leaving!" He glared at the doorway of the kitchen and spotted Alphys was peeking out. She had her arm outstretched in a sort of barrier between Stella and the open door. "We're done, bitch. Don't even know why I wanted to fuck you, you fugly cunt."

A resounding CRACK interrupted the man's tirade and he was holding his mouth. Blood trickled between his fingers as he stared in shock and pain at Papyrus. Papyrus seemed almost as surprised and was staring at his hand, which was now leaking a bit of marrow from a fracture in his knuckle, in disbelief. "HELL YEAH PAP!" Undyne hooted gleefully.

"What the fuckin' hell? He just…that crazy asshole just fucking punched me! You should be trying to arrest _him_!" It was a bit hard for the guy to talk around a mouthful of blood. His lower lip was split at the corner and rapidly beginning to swell.

Undyne smirked and shrugged. "Don't know what you're talkin' about. I didn't see anything."

"I'm getting the fuck out of here, you're all fucking nuts!" He clawed at the knob and flung the door open in his eagerness to leave.

They all watched with satisfaction until the door slowly swung closed. Papyrus winced as he automatically went to push it completely back into the frame. He still didn't say anything and he blushed as everyone stared at him with wide eyes. "Pap, that was so badass!" Undyne pumped her fist into the air.

"Good job, bro." Sans remarked approvingly.

Papyrus blushed deeply and cleared his throat roughly. "Well, you know that it is imperative to protect a lady's honor!"

"Papyrus…your hand." Alphys bit her lip worriedly. "I t-think you fractured your knuckle." She led Stella to the couch and let her settle down. After making her friend comfortable, she took Papyrus's hand and inspected it closely. "Y-yeah, you definitely did a number on yourself. W-why didn't you just use magic?" She inquired hesitantly as a ball of healing, sun-drop yellow energy formed in her palm.

No one noticed that Sans was inexplicably disappeared from the room.

"The…uhh..the Great Papyrus…" He began and faltered a bit as his eye lights flickered in Stella's direction. "I…um…he said horrible, untrue things! He incited my temper and invoked my wrath!"

"You are adorable, sugar." Mettaton batted his metallic eyelids at the younger skeleton brother. He clapped his hands together. "But, I'm afraid this has ruined the party. Perhaps we can reschedule when everyone is…" He eyed Stella sympathetically. "Well, when we're all feeling a bit better."

"Why should we let that jerk ruin our fun?" Undyne put her hands on her hips triumphantly.

Alphys tapped her partner and shook her head. "'Dyne, I don't think Stella feels up to much right now." She murmured into her ear. "We should let Sans and Papyrus take care of things –wait, where's Sans?" This last bit she said a bit louder. Her eyes swept the room and everyone else did likewise.

That was when they heard yelling. Stella paled and huddled further into her little divot on the couch. "Alphys, Mettaton, you should stay in here. Pap and I'll go out and see what this is about." Undyne pulled Papyrus outside with her.

Sans and Tyler were staring at each other intently. Tyler had his fist raised threateningly, but Sans was relaxed and there was only a trace of magic hovering in his left hand. A line of bones made an odd, fence-like pattern between them. "Just admit it and I'll let you go."

It was obvious to Undyne and Papyrus what had happened. Sans had challenged Tyler, but something was off. He was able to move, unlike Tyler, who was frozen with only the ability to move his arms and head. In monster fights, both the opponent and the challenger were frozen this way. It wasn't a problem for monsters, which fight mainly with magic, but it severely limited humans. "What's going on here, Sans?!" Papyrus demanded.

"He's the one who broke into Stella's apartment." The ice in his Sans's tone could have made a polar bear shiver. "And he tried to steal from 'er again today." He grinned at Tyler. "Hung up his coat next to her purse when he came in and nobody else noticed his hand dip into it and grab 'er new bottle of pills."

"I don't know what this asshole is talking about!" Tyler shouted back as he struggled.

"Sans, are you sure you saw him take the pills?" Undyne questioned him. She was serious as the grave because she couldn't search him without probable cause. Sans nodded solemnly and she tried to restrain a smile as she stepped over his fence of bones. She patted her hands down his sides and felt a lump in the pocket of his baggie hoodie. She withdrew the small bottle of medicine and shook them victoriously. "Well, buddy, looks like you're going to jail today." She chuckled viciously to herself. "Sans, can you keep him like that until the police arrive? I'm off-duty right now, so my hands are tied."

"How're we gonna explain his face?" Sans inquired calmly. "And yeah, I can hold 'im. I could keep 'im here for a year if I wanted to."

"Come on, man! Can't we talk about this?" Tyler moaned. "I took the pills, alright? I didn't break into her apartment, though, I swear to God. She told me the other day that these pills are worth some money and I owe some people. I was gonna re-sell them for a dollar a pill, is that what you wanted to hear?"

"You're still going to jail. I don't make deals with criminals." Undyne sneered at him. "What kind of scumbag steals his girlfriend's medicine to make a quick buck?"

"She doesn't need them!" He responded angrily. "She's gone without them before and she was fine! Hell, last month she ran out and didn't have the money to buy more. She went for two weeks without them and she lived."

"And you can live for two weeks without food, but it doesn't mean it's healthy!" Papyrus retorted. His chest was puffed up in a rage and his own magic pooled at his fingertips. "Sans, I do not feel that Stella is safe with muck like this human running about!"

"Yeah, me neither, bro. Whatchya think we should do 'bout it?" Sans turned around to be able to discuss the matter properly.

"I propose that we ask her to move in with us! That way we can be sure she is safe!" He stuck his right finger in the air and put his left arm akimbo. "What do you think, Sans?"

"Eh, sure, bro. Whaddever ya want. We got the room." Sans returned his attention his hapless captive. "Hey, buddy, when ya get outta jail it's probably best if ya skip town. I don't wanna catch ya hangin' around Stella anymore. Undyne an' me…we know whatchya did." Sans stared hard and deep into the human's eyes. Tyler felt his sins crawling on his back.

"What, Sans? What did the human do?"

"I'll tell ya later, bro."

The police arrived nearly half an hour later and interviewed every single person there. When Stella's turn came and she was asked if she'd felt harassed by Tyler or that she was in physical danger, her response was unwavering. "Yes, I thought he was going to hurt me. He wouldn't have done in front of anyone, but if I didn't act like he wanted me to, I believe he was going to punish me." It only took a short glance at Tyler's record for the police to react and he was soon glaring out the side of the squad car window as the police drove away.

The party guests gathered in the living room again and Stella sat quietly between Sans and Alphys. Sans was tapping something into her phone and then he passed it to Alphys, who passed it to Undyne, who passed it to Papyrus, and he passed it to Metaton. "That's everyone, sweetheart." Mettaton handed her phone back to her. "Call us if you need us."

"Yeah, if you need us." Alphy nodded in agreement. "Or just…whenever. That's cool, too."

She stared at the little tracphone. It was a simple device in a simple, cheap case that she'd customized with a bottle of purple nail polish, but it wasn't simple anymore. She had all of her friends here, in her hands, and she realized that somehow Sans had given her a present greater than any gifts she'd ever gotten. She caught his eye and smiled.

When the others had left, Sans propped his feet up on the coffee table. "We got a proposition for ya."

"Stay with us!" Papyrus was practically vibrating with excitement. "It'll be nice to have a roommate who actually cleans!" He shot a half-hearted glare at Sans and pushed his brother's feet off of the table. Sans just put them back up when he wasn't looking.

"The bills would be smaller. It'd save money." Sans added.

"We could make you feel safe." Papyrus prompted her. His hand went over hers. His voice was soft and sweet like the cake he'd made her.

"Where would I stay? I thought this was only a two-bedroom house." She bit her lip anxiously. It didn't feel right to 'move in' and stay on their couch.

"The basement's finished. Ya'd have the biggest room in the house. It stays the same temperature all year 'round." Sans hopped up. "C'mon, bro. Let's show 'er the digs." They led her through the kitchen and into the large, walk-in pantry. The pantry had a door at the end that led down to the basement. He flicked the switch at the top of the stairs and the whole basement was flooded with light.

The walls were painted white, but the floor was carpeted. "Shag carpeting?" She laughed, but she loved how soft it felt under her feet. It was a lovely maroon color, like an expensive red wine, and extended from wall to wall.

"Will you stay?" Papyrus looked worried. He was afraid she'd say no and it was so adorable.

"You've convinced me. Looks like I've got a new place! My lease doesn't end for another two months, though, so I can't really move in until then." She saw Papyrus's face fall and her heart stuttered. "I'll still be here, though! My door won't be fixed for another week or so. Once it's fixed, I'll still come over here as often as I can, I promise." She beamed at them both.

And, so, Stella's new life with the skeleton brothers began. It was sure to be an interesting one, too.


	4. Chapter 4

***NOTE* I apologize for the delay in uploads. It truly wasn't my fault, however, because the issue with uploading from desktop kept me from being able to post. The problem is now, hopefully, completely resolved. Also, thank you to the person who is reviewing. I do appreciate it and I hope I can continue exceeding expectations.**

 _Two months and three days later…_

Papyrus pondered the slats of worn oak that lay on the floor beside him. He picked up a single screw and puzzled over it. On the far side of the room, Sans was using his magic to gently place Stella's tv stand exactly where she wanted it. Stella was busy hefting her sofa into place against the wall and failing relatively badly compared to the brothers. "Come…ugh…on… _move already_." She pressed her shoulder against the side of it. The sofa budged a single inch before she gave out, huffing and puffing, and leaned against the wall. "That's it! I give up for the moment." She stretched her aching muscles. "I need a break. What about you guys?"

"Sure thing. I could use a lunch break." Sans dusted the magic from his hands. "Heard Grillby's got a new place above ground these days. Wanna go?"

"I'd like to, Sans, but," She smiled shyly. "I'll just stay here and make a sandwich or something."

"Hey, you sure? My treat." He rolled his shoulders and she could hear his bones cracking under his jacket. She'd seen him do it before and reasoned that it must be the skeleton way of stretching.

"Well, okay, but…" She wasn't sure if leaving Papyrus behind was alright with him or not. He didn't seem to be paying attention to their conversation. Admittedly, he had gotten pretty far in re-building her bed and he appeared to be fairly dedicated to completing the task. "Papyrus, do you want to come?"

"I'm afraid I must refuse." He selected the screwdriver after considering the collection of tools in the bag beside his leg. "I despise all greasy food. Sans, please take care of our human while you are gone!"

 _Our…human…_ She was taken aback by his word choice. It was true that they had taken to treating her as more of a permanent fixture in the household, despite the fact that she was merely their roommate. It was almost like she had a family again. She was so deep in thought that she barely registered the discomfort of the shortcut.

"Gold for your thoughts?" Sans flipped a coin under her nose.

She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Just remembering." She kicked a tiny gravel pebble with the toe of her shoe. "I was thinking about my family."

"Yeah? Good memories or bad?" He held the door open for her and followed her in. The bar was packed with both humans and monsters. Several of the monsters recognized Sans and waved.

"Mostly good." She'd had a more or less decent childhood. Her parents had been loving and nurturing people. Her mother, however, was nearly twenty years younger than Stella's father. He was elderly, in his late seventies, by the time that Stella turned 15. He'd died when she was sixteen and, only two years later, her mother had passed away from a heart attack. Stella had taken care of herself after that. It had been hard these past six years. She'd had to learn a lot of hard lessons to survive in the world. "I'm lucky, I guess. My friends now are as good as any family, maybe better."

"I'm glad ya think of us that way." He let the door fall closed behind him. "Speakin' of family, I wanna tell ya how much I appreciate the way you get along with Pap. For most people, he's kind of an acquired taste."

She chewed on the inside of her lip. "I adore him, Sans. He really knows how to light up a room, you know?"

Sans took a place on the barstool. She clumsily clambered on the seat beside him and rested her arms on the bar. The pub, she referred to it this way in her mind because she'd never been to a _bar_ that was this clean, was tiny and quaint. It had a warm, homey feel to it. The forest green paint was bordered by walnut paneling that reached about a foot and a half up the wall. The wood of the bar matched the paneling and was free of stains, debris, and scuffs.

"Sans." A monster came from the back of the bar, which was separated by a wall of decorative glass cubes and a pair of saloon-style doors, to take their orders. "It's good to see you."

Sans grinned at the flaming bartender. "Yeah, it's been a _hot minute_." He guffawed at his little joke while the bartender leaned on the bar.

"Who's your friend?" The monster, who she assumed was the owner of the bar, acknowledged her with a nod of his head in her direction.

"Oh, that's Stella. New roommate." She wanted to lean into the warmth that the flame monster was radiating. She'd always been the type to run her water as hot as it could go or to sit as close to the heater as she could stand. Heat comforted her and she was already getting sleepy because of it. It didn't help that she hadn't been sleeping well ever since Tyler had left her. Her eyes were drifting closed. "Yo, Stella, ya still in there?"

She jerked back from the skeletal hand waving near her nose. "Yeah, yeah, sorry. It's just so warm in here. It makes me want to sleep." She hurriedly explained.

"Been meanin' t' ask ya 'bout that." Sans remarked after giving Grillby his order. "We know ya aren't sleepin'. Your eyes are so bruised up, it looks like ya got sucker punched by Hulk Hogan. Yer always fallin' asleep at dinner. Anythin' wrong?"

She took a look at the menu, displayed in chalk behind Grillby's head, and tried to make order out of her sluggish thoughts. "May I have a medium soda and loaded fries, please?" Grillby nodded and returned to the back of the pub, whereupon she then allowed her head to drop into her crossed arms on the bar. "Not really. I'm just not used to being alone."

"Hey, who said yer alone? Ya got us." Sans slid his hand across the bar to lightly touch her elbow.

"I know that. I meant that I haven't gone so long without being in some kind of romantic relationship before." She knew it was a bit unhealthy, but she'd used relationships as a sort of crutch to ease the pain of the mess of loneliness and disappointment that was her life. After nearly six years of this, she'd finally decided that it had to change… _she_ had to change. That didn't mean it would be easy, though. "Tyler was the first intimate relationship I ever dared to have." The others were long-distance or were so short-lived that she never got comfortable enough to sleep with the person. "I don't want to be the cliché virgin who falls in love with their first, but I won't deny that it's a factor right now."

"Ya loved 'im? Even after everything?" He sounded confused and even a bit angry.

She shook her head. "I don't know. I don't think so; maybe it was more like infatuation and a fear of dying alone. That's kind of what drove me into my other relationships, so…" She let her shoulders rise and fall in a hopeless shrug. "I know I'm not ready for a new relationship, but I feel like I _need_ one. It's just been my normal for so long that it's hard to function without it."

"Sounds a bit like an addiction." His tone was light, but she could tell he was digging for something. It was hard to figure Sans out, sometimes. Often, he acted like a lazy, lovable oaf, but there were times when she caught a glimpse behind the front; like the day before he'd confronted Tyler. It made her wonder how many secrets he held close to his chest.

"I guess it kinda was. After my mother died, I was thrust into the world. I sold their house and moved away. I used to live in a small town about half an hour away from here. I moved here because it was the closest city. I couldn't bear to spend any of the money I got from selling the house, so I just did my best to find a job as soon as possible and the cheapest apartment in Ebottown." Grillby returned with their food. She took a sip of her soda and sighed. "I didn't really know a lot about how the world worked. I had to google how to write a check. I grew up really sheltered because my parents didn't think girls should have jobs or pay bills or even have a damn driver's license. They were good people, don't get me wrong, but their religious beliefs were extremely sexist."

"How did they expect ya to survive on yer own?"

She laughed a little. "Marry young, I suppose. They kept introducing me to guys from our town, even the ones I already knew from public school, but I wasn't interested in that. I wanted to go to college. I had the grades to get a full ride, you see, but then the tuition cap was destroyed and the colleges I could afford with my scholarships all raised their tuition exponentially. College wasn't an option anymore." She played with the straw poking out of her cup. "My dad died when I was a teenager and my mom died just a couple months after my eighteenth birthday. I was forced to wise up. At first, I still wasn't into the whole dating thing, but then I met my first girlfriend on a forum about horror movies. She was pretty and awesome, but she was also halfway across the country. We lasted for a decent while, though…about two years. It's still the longest relationship I've ever had."

"How many have ya had?"

She tapped her bottom lip as she tried to recall. "Well, including the one that lasted for all of three days…twelve." She smiled at him. "How many have _you_ had? You're charming, even if you are a bit of a slob. I'm sure you had your pick of the lot."

He scratched at his mandible. "Two. My firsts were dusted in the war and the last one…well, let's just say that I spent a lot of time with Alphys b'fore Undyne did."

"Dusted in the war?" She parroted his words back at him and hoped he'd explain.

"Dusted…it's what happens when a monster dies. We turn to dust." He nibbled solemnly at his burger. "I've been around a long time, babe. A couple of millennia, I think. I never really bothered to keep track. I was around when the war with the humans started, probably about the age you are now. Just a kid, really. My partners went off to war and I stayed behind. I never saw 'em again."

"You were in a poly relationship?" She snagged a fry from her basket and popped it in her mouth. "I've always wanted to try that, but I've never been with anyone who wanted to find a third person."

"It was nice. Good times. Pap was practically still a toddler. I doubt he still remembers Calibri and Arial." His grin had died down to a nostalgic smile. "They were gorgeous girls. Calibri was short, shorter than me. She had red hair kinda like you, but she had it cut in a bob. She was a fox monster with the cutest ears."

"And Arial? What did she look like?" She was so happy that Sans was finally opening up to her. He'd spent two months just keeping a cool distance or tagging along on her adventures with Papyrus. They'd never just sat down and talked like this. It was always a pun war or him trying in vain to get her to understand the complex math equations he did for fun in his downtime.

He stared off into space. "She was a bear-type monster. She was all curves and long legs with brown hair and fur. She had fierce eyes…like she could stop a guy in his tracks and keep 'im there just by looking at 'im. Both of 'em had a fighting spirit. I was told they dusted together."

"I'm sorry, Sans." He sounded like he'd loved them. The way he talked about them…it just resonated with heartbreak.

"I hated humans for a long time after that." He admitted. "I didn't understand how anyone who wasn't evil could have it in 'em to hurt people like Calibri and Arial. And then I met Toriel and she had such compassion and understanding for humans. I still didn't understand it fully. She tried to adopt every single human who'd accidentally ended up in the Underground. But, every time, the human wanted to go home. After the first one died, she made me promise to do my best t' look after the ones that were sure t' follow."

"How do you feel about humans now?" She scooped up a bit of cheese with a couple of fries. At this point, she was less interested in the food than she was in listening to what Sans had to say. She didn't even feel very tired anymore.

He gazed at her out of the corner of his socket. "I've met a few good ones. I know how I feel 'bout you. I know how I feel about the kid that saved us an' helped us learn how to live in a world dominated by humans. I'm too lazy for grudges, anyway. Hate takes too much work to maintain."

"I can understand that." She nodded slowly. "I've had guys, and even a couple of girls, who were worse than Tyler before and I wanted to hate them, but I was just so tired all the time that hating them felt like too much effort."

"Worse than Tyler, huh? Care t' elaborate on that?" His gaze was sharp now.

She shrugged. "We all have one or two crazy exes." He arched his brow skeptically. "Okay, so maybe I have a few more than most people. I already know I have bad taste." She was only somewhat joking. "Overall, the girl was the worst. I considered moving and changing my phone number because she was borderline stalker material. Really cute, though. Never would have guessed she was nuts until she had her claws in me."

He polished off his final bite of the burger and took a deep swig out of the bottle of ketchup. "Heh, should I be on the look-out, just in case?" He posed it as a joke, but it had an underlying serious tone.

She poked at the remains of her fries. "Nah, and I'm not going to involve myself with anyone else for a long time, so you don't need to worry about any future Tyler-types. This time, I wanna try something different. I'm tired of feeling sorry for myself and ending up with assholes out of boredom or loneliness. I'm ready for a lot of changes. Right now that means I'm going to finish moving in with you guys and then I'm going to go job hunting."

Sans smirked as Grillby came over to check on them. "Hey, Grillbz, aren't ya lookin' t' hire some help?" He jerked his thumb in her direction. "My pal over here is lookin' for a new job. She's got experience as a bartender, if ya were wonderin'."

"Is that so?" Grillby cleaned the dust off of a bottle of rum while he spoke. "Perhaps we can set up an interview sometime."

She stared at them both for several minutes before her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "This smells like a set-up." There was no way that this could be a coincidence.

Grillby's flames crackled merrily as he laughed. "Looks like your friend found you out, Sans." He returned the bottle to its shelf. "Sans was in here a few weeks ago and mentioned you. Would you be interested in interviewing here? Your position would be the same as my own. I promise that I will pay you fairly."

She turned in her seat. "You lied? Why?" She wasn't truly upset, but she was honestly wondering how he'd found out that she was searching for a new job. She hadn't mentioned it to anyone, not even Papyrus and she told him _everything_ , but she'd gotten sick of the bullshit Dan was force-feeding her every day.

Sans appeared non-plussed by her reaction. "Saw a buncha job applications on yer bed when we visited yer apartment two weeks ago. I figured ya'd finally had enough of that dickhead ya call a boss, so I checked in with Grillby. Didn't wanna tell ya just in case Grillbz said no. Are ya upset wit' me?"

She beamed back at him. "No, just as long as you promise to never _fibia_ to me again."

" _Tibia_ honest, this was the first time and the last." He gulped down the rest of his condiment like it was going out of style. "Ya do know this means war, right?"

"But, of course." She snickered. She composed herself before addressing Grillby. "Mr…um…Grillby, I'm free next Saturday afternoon if that's convenient for you."

His nod was barely perceptible. It was hard to read the expressions of someone who lacked facial features and his body language was difficult to interpret due to the constantly shifting flames that his body was composed of. "Is 2:00 pm a good time?" She replied in the affirmative and he held out his hand to shake. "Wonderful. I will look forward to it. I hope you enjoyed the food."

"Yeah, it was awesome." She stacked their dishes and took care to sweep any crumbs into her hand to be tossed into the nearby trashcan.

"Comin', doll?" Sans was already at the door and waiting for her. The shortcut back didn't sit as well with her as it had on the trip over. Her stomach complained loudly as her knees gave out, and she would have hit the floor if Sans hadn't caught her by the back of her shirt. "Ya don't look so good."

"I don't _feel_ so good." She bemoaned her anguish. "I don't think the shortcut on a full stomach was a good idea."

"Still not used t' it?" His question was redundant. He knew she'd never gotten used to shortcuts, but he was looking at her doubtfully. "Ya didn't look like ya felt good most of today."

"Well, I've been pretty exhausted, yeah. You already knew that." She hadn't mentioned the cramps to him. She'd taken a couple of Midol that morning under the assumption that she'd get the chance to take more at lunchtime. She'd forgotten, of course, because she was a complete airhead at times. "It's nothing serious. It's just my time of the month."

"Yer what?"

She pressed her bottom lip tightly against her teeth. Monster anatomy must be different. After all, she had no clue what the reproductive cycles of monsters were, why should she expect them to know about the human cycles? She might as well tell him. She didn't want him or Pap to worry more about her than they did already. "Well, once a month, human males and females go through hormone fluctuations. It's much more subtle for males; they might feel a little more horny or irritable than usual and that's it. Women, on the other hand, go through a bit more. I'm going to skip the gory details and just tell you that it's kind of a messy, painful affair."

"…does it include bleeding?" His eye lights had traveled down. "Cuz if it don't, we might need t' take ya t' see the doc."

Blood rushed to her face and she hung her head. "Goddamn it." She cursed quietly. "Sorry you had to see that." She rushed to the bathroom without even thinking about the need for clean clothes, and did her best to clean up. She took a shower, but realized her mistake as soon as she stepped out. She gulped and peeked down the hallway. "Sans?" She called out.

"Yup?"

She jerked back as he had shortcutted in front of the door. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure thing."

"Get Pap out of my room for a few minutes. I don't want to accidentally flash him." She smiled ruefully and tucked her towel closer. "Or you, for that matter. I forgot to grab clothes before I came up here, so I'll need to go back down to get some."

"No problem. I'll take 'im back to yer old place to get the rest of yer stuff t' get 'im out. Ya got about ten minutes. See ya." He shortcutted away and she was alone once more.

She breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door a bit wider. She waited a couple of minutes to be sure that both brothers were, indeed, gone. Then, she proceeded to book it down the stairs, into the kitchen, and down the basement steps. She tried to take them two at a time, but her right foot slid out from under her and she skidded down all of the stairs on her bottom. She didn't even get to flip the switch, so she had landed on her butt in near absolute darkness. Only the slightest illumination dribbled down the stairs from the open door at the head of the landing.

"Owww." She rubbed her backside to massage the pain away, but froze when she took note of what stood before her.

For there, at the edges of the light from upstairs, she saw the outline of a figure. The figure was tall, inhumanly so, and gave the impression of being cloaked in the void of shadows themselves. A melted, mangled face regarded her with a manic energy born of intense interest and malicious intentions. A deep-seated fear, the kind of primal terror inspired in prey by predators, seized her heart. "S-S-SAAAAANS! PAPYRUS!"

And then it spoke. "They canont save you."

She backed up and her heels hit the edges of the final step. "W-what are you?" She tried to scramble away backward. Her towel fell open a little and she felt, if possible, more exposed and vulnerable. She pushed herself back to her feet and her towel fell away completely. "G-get away from me! I swear to God, I'll-"

The light turned on. "Human?!"

The…thing…was gone. She gasped and her eyes swept the room in shock. Had she merely imagined what she saw and heard? Perhaps…perhaps she had hit her head when she fell, it had caused her to become confused, and she'd hallucinated the entire thing?

Behind her, a something hit the floor and Sans was suddenly at her side with one hand up and his eye glowing like a lightbulb had been screwed into his socket. "What happened?"

"I…fell…I think." She felt her head. _Strange_ , she thought, _if I hit my head…why don't I have a sore spot?_ "I'm okay, but it scared the heck out of me."

He lowered his hand. "It's cool, bro. She's okay."

Papyrus wiped his skull out of relief as if he were wicking away sweat. "Oh, good!"

Sans crouched down beside her, but suddenly looked away. "Yer towel, babe. Might wanna fix it."

She looked down and groaned. "Sorry." She quickly secured the towel around herself again and hoped that she hadn't bled all over it in the past few minutes. Period stains were a bitch to get out.

Papyrus dashed down after them. "Hm, so that is what humans look like without clothes!" He studied her. "I have to say that I _was_ fairly curious."

She rubbed wearily at her eyes. She might as well have just streaked through the entire house. This was turning out to be one hell of a day; Sans finally opening up, only for her to embarrass the shit out of herself in so many ways. "Pap, would you mind giving me a chance to get dressed?"

"If that's what the lady wants, she shall get it! Come along, brother, we must give her privacy!" He tugged Sans upstairs by the hood of his jacket. Sans gave her a half-wave before the door slammed shut.

Stella let her towel fall off of her. There was no use to keeping it on at this point, other than as protection from the chilly, basement air. Her roommates, _both of them_ , had already witnessed her nakedness. The basement, however, stole away all of her mortified thoughts on that matter. It could have been a breeze. It was probably her imagination; working away with the tools of her embarrassment and fading fright, but she heard a final sentence fill the silence from an invisible mouth.

"I will come for you all soon."

Nothing. There was nothing, she told herself to still her wildly thumping heart. The gallop of its beat did not slow, even as she threw on her clothes and applied the appropriate hygienic precautions to take care of the blood. It was like that time she'd drank five cups of coffee, two Midol, and eaten half a bag of cough drops because of the flu. Her heart, if anything, slammed more eagerly against her ribs as she fought to compose herself. "There's nothing here." She said aloud. "OKAY, BOYS! I'M DECENT!" She cupped her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice. She snatched her towel off the stairs and came back up to find her boys waiting in the kitchen.

"Wonderful! Now, we would like to point out that we have obtained the last of your belongings from your old apartment. Once they are put away, you will officially be moved in!"

She relished the sound of Papyrus's voice. It felt like he could drown out that…thing… with no effort at all. She'd never appreciated his voice before; loud, confident, and somewhat grating as it was, yet, it soothed her. "Great. I'm gonna go put this in the laundry and then I'll come down to help."

About forty-five minutes later, every single thing she owned was finally settled in. Her battered loveseat sat across from her tv stand, which now supported a new tv. She'd bought that once the renter's insurance check came in. An updated version of her old Xbox stood beside it with a pair of controllers sitting in the dock. Her dresser stood up against the right wall a few feet from the base of the stairs. Her bed was intact and pushed into the corner. It was a cozy set-up, but she wasn't feeling too excited about sleeping in there that night.

"All done." Sans slunk over to her sofa and made himself at home.

"We should celebrate!" Papyrus glared at his brother. "Up, lazybones! We need to celebrate this historic event! Do you want to look back on this moment fifty years from now and say 'And then, I took a nap on her sofa'?"

"Do I hafta?" Sans groaned piteously.

"Yes, yes, you do! Now, get up, so we can all go to the park and get some apple pie from that extremely trustworthy street vendor!" Papyrus ordered them both back upstairs. She certainly was getting a workout today, what with all of the stair climbing.

Fortunately for Sans, the natural world had contradictory plans. While they were finishing up, a storm had rolled in. Thunder rolled in waves and lightning flashed in great clashes of blinding, purple light. Rain poured down in buckets if one dared to peek out the front door. "Sheesh. Guess our trip to the park is canceled by default." He patted Pap's back in a comforting way because the taller skeleton was beginning to feel seriously disappointed. "Ah, bro, sorry that your plans are all _washed up_."

Pap frowned at his older sibling. "Brother-" He growled in warning.

Sans shrugged and snickered. "Sorry, didn't mean to _rain on your parade_."

Pap's left eye began to twitch and Stella felt it was her duty to step in. "Guys, let's just watch a movie. We'll order something off of Pay-Per-View, make popcorn and snacks, and just chill."

"I'm game." Sans spoke up immediately. He switched the tv on and began flipping through channels. While Pap and Sans discussed different options in the living room, Stella went into the kitchen to whip up some snacks. After several minutes of examining the contents of the fridge, freezer, and all the cabinets, she collected the ingredients for a few snack foods.

First, she made the microwave popcorn doused in chocolate syrup. She went on to make peanut butter-and-marshmallow fluff graham cracker sandwiches. She opened a new bag of hard pretzels and made a dip out of melted caramel candies. Finally, she poured out a bowl full of salsa and grabbed a couple of bags of tortilla chips. She carefully emptied the bag on to a metal pizza pan and sprinkled cheese liberally over them before popping them into the oven for a few minutes. She nestled the bowl of salsa in the middle, drained a can of chopped olives and a can of Jalapenos, sprinkled those liberally over the steaming, cheesy chips, and then nuked some leftover grilled chicken to top it all off. After the chicken was chopped up and sprinkled over the rest of the toppings, she decided to call on the skele-bros to help her carry everything into the living room.

Sans whistled when he saw all of the food she'd prepared in a little less than an hour. "Damn, what a spread." He noted the ultimate nacho platter with a gleam of glee in his eye lights. "By the by, did ya catch the forecast?"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "What?"

"Yeah, it's supposed to rain for the rest of the day, but it'll be _hot tamale_." He winked and she broke into giggles.

"Alright, funnybone, how about helping me out here?" She motioned at the enormous amount of food. "This might take a few trips, plus I still have to pour the drinks, and…hey, what the-?" She had to dodge out of the way as Sans's magic flowed from his left hand and curled tendrils around the food.

"I've got all this." He said with a smirk. He levitated the platter out first and then followed it up with the desserts. She watched him work his magic, because it was always fascinating to see any monster produce it. Papyrus's color was different. The…aura…stuff that surrounded whatever they were manipulating was orange for Pap, but blue for Sans. It made her wonder about the meaning, if there was a meaning at all, assigned to the different colors.

"Sans?" She called out before he had slipped back into the living room. He turned to face her and she couldn't help focusing in on his left, highlighter-blue eye light. "Can I ask you a…erm…personal question?"

"Sure, I'm an open book." He leaned against the frame as he waited for her to speak.

She hesitated. "Stop me if I'm being rude, I'm not exactly 'in the know' when it comes to monster culture or anything, so I don't want to offend you." She didn't want to upset one of the wonderful people who had treated her so well.

He shook his head. "Nah, you're good. It takes a lot to piss me off, so go ahead'n ask."

"Okay, so I've been wondering if every monster's magic looks different and, if it does, where does the magic come from? Do monster children have to learn spells and potions or is it just innate knowledge? Are some monsters born without magic?" She suddenly realized she'd started to babble out a series of questions, rather than just the one she'd wanted to limit herself to, which made her immediately clamp her mouth shut and turn bubblegum-pink. "Sorry, I got kind of carried away. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"Yes. It comes from our souls. It's innate." He replied simply with a widening grin. "Kind of hard to explain to a human, I guess, but once you're around monsters a bit more you'll figure it out." He chuckled to himself. "Potions and spells, now that's a real joke. Heard about that stuff on tv. That's all bullshit."

"Can humans use magic, though?" She prompted timidly.

"A long time ago, yeah, but they've forgotten how to do it over the course of millennia. More's the better, I suppose." He informed her.

She followed him out with three large cups of cold soda and a bottle of ketchup. Papyrus let out an excited noise. "Finally, human! Are you ready for my AWESOME choice in movies?" He clicked play and she immediately recognized the eye-searing colors and overtly-happy singing. She quickly checked the rating in the corner before the bar disappeared; rated G.

She read out the title. "Happy Elf Friends; Adventure in Joyland." She had to suppress a laugh. "Good…ah…choice, Pap."

The taller skeleton brother beamed brightly, while Sans caught her eye and shrugged. "Sorry, I tried." He whispered. "We'll watch a better one after he's asleep."

Sure enough, although he was able to stay awake all the way up to the final twenty minutes, Papyrus's eye lights slowly faded out and he was ultimately snoring lightly before the credits rolled. Sans winked at her knowingly before blue tendrils wrapped themselves around his brother and they both blinked out of existence. Sans was back in an instant without his brother. He plopped on the couch and smirked over at her. "So, come here often?" He was able to produce an action similar to a flirtatious eyebrow wiggle.

"Oh, as often as I can." She grinned as she scooped up a chip. It was one of the last ones and, as she munched, she thoughtfully pondered how a pair of skeletons could eat in the first place. Ultimately, she decided that it had something to do with magic and left it at that. She wasn't exactly overtly curious about their digestive processes.

He lazily tapped at the remote beside him and didn't bother to even pick it up. He just poked at the buttons until something caught his eye. "You up for a horror movie? If ya can't handle it, we can watch whaddever ya want."

She nodded. "Sure, as long as you don't mind being jostled and possibly hit by flailing limbs." She laughed at his confused expression. "I don't take jump scares very well. Or loud noises. Anything loud and/or sudden just flicks a switch in my brain. Some people have a fight or flight instinct, but I have flight or flail."

He laughed along with her. "Think I'll be fine, buddy." He clicked on a movie called Mincer 2: Sliced and Diced. "The title really has me hopin' this guy will go after his victims with a Magic Bullet." His rather morbid joke made her smile.

He never lost an opportunity to poke fun at the characters or the plot or even the setting of the movie itself. "Who goes into an abandoned seafood processing plant and doesn't expect to be murdered?" She gestured at the screen with a frustrated look as the group stupidly wandered around.

"Yeah, if it were me, I'd have figured out something was _fishy_ about that place by now." And there was also the litany of puns that bombarded her ears every couple of minutes.

At this point, it was time to fight back. "Hey, Sans. What do you call a Pokemon-themed train?"

He furrowed his eye bones for a few seconds before shrugging. "Dunno, what?"

" _A Pika-chu-chu_." They burst into fits of snickers and snorts before she regained her breath for another shot. "Sans, what do you call a fake pebble?" He shrugged again, but with an expectant grin plastered over his skull. " _A shamrock_!" She paused and an evil look crossed her face. "What happens when a skeleton gets sick?" She waited for a beat for his answer, but he just grinned back at her. "He gets a _femur_."

He appeared mildly impressed. "Heh, actually hadn't thought of that one. Pretty good, but I'm afraid you still have a _skeleton_ of catching up to do to be on my level."

She scrunched up her nose in an effort to force down the giggles. "Guess I'm kinda _boned_ , huh?" The pair broke down into fits of laughter that quieted down after a couple of minutes. "Sans," Stella coughed a little from laughing so much. "Thanks for being…you know…so nice to me. Neither of you guys knew me from Adam, but that didn't stop you from scaring the shit out of my ex and offering me a place to stay. I've never had so many friends. I just wanted you to know that I do appreciate everything."

His eye lights moved off the screen to pin her with a piercing stare. "What, ya thought Paps and I were gonna drop ya like a sick beat? Nah, you're stuck with us, babe. 'Sides, now that I know ya can cook, I'm probably gonna call you up from yer basement lair whenever I need to escape the spaghetti monster upstairs."

You winced sympathetically because, no matter how much you had come to adore Papyrus, Papy was not yet aware that the people around him didn't want pasta for almost every single meal. "Deal." She grabbed his bony hand and they shook on it.

"You do know this means I'll occasionally draw you into a pun war. My brother can't _stomach_ my puns. I'd never call him _yellow-bellied_ , but outta the two of ya, you're the only one with the _guts_ to handle a joke."

She shot him a determined grin. "I accept your challenge, sir."

Her new roommate status made her feel as if she'd gotten even closer to both brothers. She learned their routines and habits. Sans, who was the more reserved of the two, often preferred to be alone in his room, but he always had time to spend with both Stella and Pap. Once she started working at Grillby's, she'd see him regularly come by for a bite and a visit, and then be on his way back to his own grindstone. Papyrus was thrilled to have her around, too, although she suspected that it was mainly because she couldn't outrun him like Sans could when he came around asking for a taste-tester. It wasn't that his food wasn't usually good…it was just that not everything was the 'innovative culinary masterpiece' he believed it to be. Especially the day he'd tried to add paste to the chicken gravy. _That_ was a disaster of epic proportions.

One such 'masterpiece', only a few weeks later, had her hunched over the porcelain throne and puking her guts out. Papyrus knocked on the other side of the door. "Human? How are you-" She bent over the bowl and wretched loudly again. "-Er…doing…"

"Peachy-keen, Pap." She croaked out of her acid-burned throat. "Just…hurgh…give me a min-hugth…"

"Perhaps it would have been best to refrain from trying my hand at making sushi." He said, in a rare moment of self-doubt. "On the other hand, maybe it was the paper that was the culprit."

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Please tell me you put edible rice paper wrappers on the sushi and not freaking _craft paper_."

"There's a difference?"

This was it. Pap was truly going to kill her this time. Goodbye, cruel world, she would spend her last moments hugging a toilet bowl. She would have cried at the inhumanity of it all, but she was already tearing up as the next clenching of her insides made her spit up a mouthful of soggy grossness. "At…at least you used sushi-grade fish, right?"

"Ah…about that…" He chuckled nervously.

She closed her eyes in defeat. "Papyrus, please…next time you intend to feed me something…follow the –ungh- recipe." Her stomach felt as if it were turning itself inside out. Was it possible to throw up _yesterday_ 's dinner? Because she felt like that's what had happened.

"I'll…I'll go get Sans." He sounded like he was holding back tears. She hadn't meant to upset him. "SAANNNS, I'VE KILLED THE HUMAN!"

"What? Ya did _what_?" She could hear Sans tromping up to the bathroom. "Hey, Stella! You good in there? What in stars' name did ya eat?!"

"Pap made sushi…I love sushi…" Pap had made it for her because he recently found out that it was her favorite food. She couldn't refuse such a sweet gesture, so she'd taken the gamble and now she was paying for it.

Sans chuckled at her predicament. "Pap had me thinkin' it was more serious. Awright, hold still an' lemme take care of this." She felt his hands brace a bit of his weight against her back and they slowly grew warmer. The heat seeped deeply into her body and soothed her stomach cramps. Slowly, the urge to vomit eased and her body calmed down. She leaned into his grasp. The heat dissipated after about five minutes and left her feeling good as new.

"Ugh, I need to brush my teeth and wash my face." She wobbled a little as she stood up. "Thanks a lot, Sans." She rubbed the top of his skull gratefully. "Saved again by my magic man." She laughed hoarsely. Her throat was still a bit painful, but no longer raw.

"Ya really need to learn how t' run faster when Pap says he's testing out a new dish." He snarked back at her.

"He's got really long legs, okay?" She replied in a flustered manner. "I can't cheat by taking shortcuts like _some people_." She poked him in the shoulder accusingly.

He smiled widely and grabbed her hand. "He's probably worried half to dust 'boutchya. Gotta show 'im yer okay."

"At least let me swish some mouthwash first." She grabbed the bottle and poured some out into the cap. The disgusting taste of her own bile was replaced with mint. She flushed the toilet and washed her hands thoroughly.

Papyrus was waiting on the couch downstairs. His bones were rattling, which she knew was something he did to comfort himself. "Hey, Pap, I'm okay! No worries! Sans fixed me." She wrapped him up in a hug.

He hugged her back so tightly she could barely breathe. "Stella, I am so sorry! The human digestive system must be too sensitive to handle my awesome!"

"Pap…breathing…is…a thing…" She gasped. He was unbelievably strong, despite everything he seemed to be.

He lessened the power of his grip. "Sorry! I am glad you're feeling better. Perhaps you'd like something else to eat-"

"No!" Stella and Sans said in unison. "I mean, uh…not right now. I've gotta let my stomach settle." She gulped back the sick feeling she had at the thought of more of his inedible experiments. "Let's just sit here and watch tv for a little while."

"I'm afraid not. I must go with Undyne on a special mission today! I am supposed to help her pick out a Valentine's Day gift for Alphys." He popped up from the couch. "In fact, I should get ready to go soon. She said she wanted to meet at four and it's already 2:30. I wouldn't disappoint her by being late!" He zoomed up to his room, where they could hear him getting ready.

"What could he possibly be doing that would make so much noise?" Stella stared at the ceiling in awe. It sounded like jackhammers breaking through the second story to the first floor. She paled as specks of dust began to fall. "Perhaps it's better not to question it." She handed Sans the remote. She'd never been all that into watching tv. She was more of a Webflicks and Newsytube kind of person.

He switched the channel over to the science network and was watching a wildlife documentary about praying mantises. They watched for only a few minutes before he could no longer hold himself back. "What did the mantis say to his annoyed wife?" He paused for dramatic effect. "He said 'I know you're angry, but there's no need to bite my head off!'"

She rolled her eyes. "That one wasn't bad, but I've got a better one. Why was the skeleton scared?" She smirked playfully at him. "Because he was _a-bone_!"

"Oh yeah? I think I can top that. Why couldn't the skeleton stand up for himself?" He asked with a challenge in his eye lights. "Because he was _spineless_!"

"Phalan _jeez_ , that was a good one, but I bet I can do better!"

"Whaddya call a group of bony fish? _Meta-carp-als_."

"NOOOO!" Papyrus screeched from his bedroom. "SANS! HOW COULD YOU? I ASKED YOU NOT TO CORRUPT THE HUMAN WITH YOUR PUNS!"

She tried to refrain, but it was too easy."Oh, come on, Papy." She purred. "Why can't you just _humerus_?"

Papyrus gasped, scandalized, and then groaned. "NO! I REFUSE TO HAVE ANOTHER ATROCIOUS PUNNER IN THIS HOUSE! SANS, YOU MUST STOP THIS INFURIATING INFLUENCE AT ONCE! WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO IGNORE MY EXPLICIT AND REASONABLE INSTRUCTIONS?!"

"Well, ya could say I felt like being re-pun-gant, eh?" He gritted his teeth in an effort to keep it together, but hisses and snorts leaked through like water through a broken pipe.

"SANS! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING OR I PROMISE YOU THAT I'LL…I'LL TAKE AWAY YOUR SNUGGIE!" Papyrus shouted in warning at his brother.

Sans's sockets widened in shock and he spluttered. "Ya wouldn't dare!"

Papyrus steepled his fingers and evilly tapped them together while he cackled. "NYEHHEHEH! OH, YES, I WOULD DO JUST THAT! AND I'D REPLACE YOUR SLIPPERS WITH HIGH HEELS, THE MOST UNCOMFORTABLE TYPE OF FOOTWEAR! NYEHEHEH!" Satisfied by Sans's horrified expression, Papyrus lapsed into a silence punctuated only occasionally by quiet mutterings of 'Nyeh'. Papyrus swung his scarf around his neck and wordlessly scowled at them. He seemed to have become fed up and decided that their punning was no longer deserving of a response from him after making his threats. "I will presumably be home in three hours! Have fun _pun-ishing_ each other." He shut the door hard.

"Did he just?" Stella asked Sans, her eyes as wide as saucers due to her shock.

Sans smirked deviously. "So proud." He took advantage of Papyrus's absence to slouch down and cross his feet on the table. "Wonder what Undyne's gonna get for Alphys?" He mused.

"Probably something Anime or manga related." She wished she had her own SO to buy unnecessary things for, but she'd sworn off relationships for the time being. That being said; tomorrow was going to be a difficult day at work. She'd have to cater to all of the love-struck couples getting drunk and pawing at each other. "You wanna go to the store, buy a shit-ton of chocolate, candy, and assorted junk food? We can pig out and play video games while Pap is gone."

"It's like ya read my mind."


	5. Chapter 5

***NOTE* Since I was asked in a review, I'd like to clear up some things around the type of epilepsy that I (and my OC) have. I wrote her to have simple partial seizures/absence seizures/Myoclonic seizures because I have these types of seizures due to my own epilepsy. 'Write what you know', as they say, so that's the reasoning behind why I gave her epilepsy. I'm not here to preach and no one's offended me, lol, but it seems that there's confusion over the different symptoms, triggers, and types of seizures. General media has really simplified epilepsy to down to 'every epileptic has Grand Mal seizures and needs a service animal', which isn't true. There are tons of types of seizures and epilepsy. Some epileptics have no discernible triggers and only minor physical symptoms (absence seizures/non-motor seizures mean that all movement stops and/or the person just stares into space or the person starts to sweat, has changes in behavior, gastric distress, hot/cold flashes, or even goosebumps). And, depending on where/how the seizures start in the brain, it can make all the difference.**

 **For instance, I have myoclonic seizures that have no external/environmental triggers. I have seizures that come on at random intervals, but mainly when I am tired, emotional, or stressed. These seizures respond wonderfully to Lamotrigine and I haven't had a seizure cluster while on it, unless I happen to forget a dose because I'm human and I do that. :D In any case, the way that I've portrayed Stella's epilepsy is exactly my own experience, which includes the lack of environmental triggers like bright/flashing lights, loud sounds, etc. If I haven't explained myself well enough, I suggest going to Wikipedia or to go to this website for the Epilepsy Foundation where you can learn more about the condition and/or support children with degenerative epileptic syndromes by donating - learn/types-seizures**

()()()()

"Can you tell me more about monsters?" Stella reached into the enormous bag of candy to fish out another chocolate heart. She was lounging on his lap and using his jacket as a pillow while they battled. He'd let her have Kirby, but she was still losing. Princess Peach put the final beat-down on her pink ball of goop.

"GET DUNKED ON!" He ruffled her hair to purposefully mess it up. "Better luck next time, sweetheart. And, sure, whaddya wanna know?"

She hesitated because she was unsure how to phrase her question. "Are there others like you out there? I mean, like you and Papyrus, are there other skeleton monsters? I've seen multiple people of the various monster types, but I've never come across any other skeletons." She decided to hold her tongue over the issue with the mangled monster that had appeared to her in the basement. She didn't want Sans to think she was completely out of her mind.

"No." His answer sounded harsh, as if he were struggling to get the answer out of his throat. "No, there aren't any others."

"D-did something happen to them?" Her voice wavered as she expected him to respond out of anger, but she had to know. She'd been in terror of that disturbing thing for weeks. It came to her in every nightmare. Now every shadow was darker and full of ominous, foreboding power.

"Died out, mostly." His answer was clipped.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." She went to get up, but he stopped her.

"Nah, wasn't your fault." He scratched the back of his skull. "Y'know, don't worry 'bout it. Anything else?"

She let her head drop back into his lap. She picked up another piece of candy and held it out to him. He plucked it out of her fingers with his teeth. "How are you able to taste without a tongue?"

He grinned. "I have a tongue. See?" Sky-blue magic fizzed and sparked in his mouth until a glowing, blue tongue manifested itself inside his jaws. "Papyrus does, too."

This revelation was rather mind-blowing. She could see his tongue through the various gaps in the bones of his jaw. He let the magic go and his tongue turned to vapor that escaped in a curl of blueberry smoke. She took notice of a twin glow in his chest. "What's that?" She gently pressed her hand against his shirt.

He looked at her like she'd just told him that two plus two equals fish. Then, he lightly hit his forehead with the palm of his hand. "Right, right. You've probably never seen a soul before." He cupped his hand over the blue glow. It flowed over his ribs and into his hand. When he opened his hand, he was holding a petite, heart that pulsed with sapphire light. "I can show you yours, if ya want. Here, hold mine."

His soul floated just a hair above her skin. She couldn't help staring at it. It was beautiful. She'd never beheld anything that came close to it. Well, maybe one thing. She'd gone to a museum in D.C. when she was a kid and saw the Hope Diamond. This was like a radiant, heart-shaped Hope Diamond, except its light wasn't the work of cleverly placed facets. She tore her eyes away from his soul to find that he was frowning over what he held in his hands.

"It's…so ugly." The dust-grey heart palpitated in Sans's gentle grip. The dirty light it emitted was dull and bland. There wasn't even a comparison between his soul and hers. Hers was almost uncomfortable to look at. There were numerous scars, like someone had taken a pencil and drawn crisscrossed scribbles all over it. She furrowed her eyebrows. "Why is mine like that? Is something wrong with me?"

"I dunno." He lightly grazed one finger over it. "I've never seen a soul like this before. The scars, yeah, but the color…"

An electric current exploded up her back from the base of her spine. At the same time, a burst of heat flooded her chest and she gasped for breath. It was like somebody had hooked her tongue up to a car battery. Everything, from her fingertips to her toes, tingled like needles were dancing over her skin. It wasn't unpleasant, but it was terribly intense. "What…what was that?"

He didn't answer her question. He was too invested in examining her soul. "We're going to Alphys." He looked up from her soul. "This is the color of dust. Fuck, what if you're dying?" He held her soul close to his chest.

"I…I don't feel like I'm dying." She carefully pushed his soul back into his chest. He did the same for hers. He gathered her close to him as if she'd break and took a shortcut out of the house.

They landed in front of a line of townhouses that extended down the road in both directions. The house directly in front of them had cheerful, robin's egg-blue plastic siding with slate-grey shutters. He pounded on the door frantically. Alphys didn't answer right away and he impatiently shifted from foot to foot. "C'mon, Al. C'mon." He muttered.

"Sans! How are you?" Alphys opened the door wider to allow them to come inside.

He wasted no time in getting to the point. "We need your help. Something's wrong with Stella." He used his magic to draw out Stella's soul again.

Alphys flinched back in horror. "Oh my stars!" She twisted her hands. "What happened to her? How did her soul get like this? It looks like she's about to dust!"

"No idea. Have ya ever seen anythin' like this in your life?" He handed her soul to Alphys for further inspection.

She adjusted her glasses. "N-no. I-I might have some books on souls, though. Stay here and don't let her so much as accidentally bump herself!" She bustled off to some unknown part of the house. Sans, in the meantime, built her a tiny fort of cushions from the two couches and ordered her not to move.

"I'm sure this is unnecessary." She said while sitting cross-legged on the pile of cushions. "I'm not in pain."

"I just don't wanna risk anything." He sat on the floor beside her with a guarded expression. "I'm not gonna let any of my friends turn to dust…not again."

 _Again_? She wondered what he meant by that. Did he mean like Arial and Calibri? Or did he mean something else? Should she be worried like Alphys and Sans were? She truly wasn't in any degree of pain. Her stomach growled and she winced. _Well, maybe I ate a bit too much junk food and sweets, but that couldn't be it_.

Alphys returned with a stack of books higher than her own head. She had to edge along with them balanced precariously in her arms. Sans ran over and took a few off the top to lighten the load. They both got down to reading studiously. Curious, she leaned over and took one _creatively_ titled **SOULS VOL. 18 by W.D.G.**. Sans immediately looked up. She smiled reassuringly. "Relax, I promise not to kill myself with a papercut." He wanted to laugh, she could see it, but he was torn between his sense of humor and his sincere concern. Finally, he nodded and allowed her to take the book back to her fort.

She flipped through the pages, skimming them and taking in very little information. She kept an eye out for any mentions of the color grey, however, she found nothing. She was nearly to the end of the book when she took note of an interesting paragraph.

- **and it should be documented that, although rare, there exists what is known as a 'conduit soul'. The conduit soul itself does not have any power, but it's abilities are implied in its name. It can link two other souls and combine their powers. The resulting power is not as strong as that of a monster who has imbibed a human soul, but one should think that using a human conduit soul would render interesting (and as of yet, untested) results. The conduit soul is limited to a neutral or achromatic color such as; white, black or grey.**

"Uh…guys? You might want to have a look at this." She waved them over with one hand, her eyes still affixed to the page.

Alphys mouthed the words of the page as she read. Her eyes grew impossibly wide the further down she read. "C-conduit soul?"

"Guys, if this is what's up with me…if this is why my soul looks so weird…shouldn't we try to test it?" She could see that, as soon as she suggested it, they both turned apprehensive.

"H-how would we-?" Alphys looked to Sans for guidance, but he only shook his head.

"We need to narrow things down, don't we? If this isn't it…would it really hurt for us to just try?" She pleaded with them to see reason. "And if it is true, what would it mean for me?"

"Humans are full of determination." Alphys whispered. "I-if I'm making any sense out of this…it could mean that a human conduit soul could keep the companion souls from dusting in a battle. If monsters had gotten ahold of human conduit souls as prisoners during the war, monsters might've won."

"What do you mean 'full of determination'?" Stella shifted to sit on her knees. She was getting uncomfortable with all of this talk about battle and wars.

"Humans have an immense amount of determination. It's sort of like how the Green Lantern Corp is all about the power of will. That, if you desire something or want to change an outcome, you can do that simply by plugging into your willpower. In other words, humans _make_ things happen. You could even reset time, i-if you needed to." Alphys nibbled on her lower lip.

She scoffed. "You're joking, right? That's impossible. No one can change time." She crossed her arms over her chest. "The conduit thing, I can believe that, but there's no way I can mess with something like _time_."

"All humans can. They just don't know it. Your kind had even lost their belief in magic before we were released from the mountain." Alphys lifted the book out of her hands and placed it on the floor. "I-I think we should let her try, Sans. The book says that the conduit has to keep physical contact with the companion soul vessels." She laid her hand on Stella's.

Sans met her eyes before following suit. Their eyes stayed locked as tendrils, yellow and blue, snaked up her arms. When they reached her chest, she felt that same lightning-rod sensation from earlier, only it was now twice as strong. She panted as it reached her head. She snapped her head back and screamed for all she was worth. Both eyes were now glowing gold and blue, the power mixing and churning inside. The power, it felt thick and heavy like cake batter sloshing inside her skull and chest. She couldn't see. She could only see the light show in her head, the swirling colors that existed within her mind and body.

"Oh…oh, stars!" Alphys was hyperventilating.

"Shit…" Sans sounded winded as well. "What do we do now, Alphys?" His voice was strained. Stella clutched their hands harder in the midst of the storm of power.

"She needs to redirect the power into her soul." Alphys's hand was shaking and sweating. "Stella, try to control this. You can't help us if you can't control it!"

Was Alphys crazy? She could barely breathe around the power that had filled her. She was right, though, because she had to try. She had to try. She had to try. She had to. She had to clear her head. She pushed as hard as she could with her mind against the colors. She squeezed her eyes shut and pushed them down. The power had now taken up every bit of space in her chest and she was strangled nearly to death. Her chest couldn't expand anymore. "Alphys…" She wheezed. "How…?"

"You have to hold it in your soul! Y-you can do it!" Alphys encouraged her in a breathless, excited whimper.

Her chest was rising to a sweltering temperature as the power heated it like a powerful blaze. She had to concentrate the flames. Her entire will was focused on this singular task. Her efforts were weakening her; her muscles felt torn. Her very blood seemed to boil as the power was forced down. Her hands felt as if they were magnetically stuck to theirs. She couldn't withdraw now, even if she wanted to.

CLICK.

The pressure, the heat, the choking sensation…it was all gone. She slumped forward weakly. "Alphys…Sans…did I do it?"

Her friends didn't answer and Stella's eyes flew open in a panic. In front of them, floating just off to the side, were a pair of wolfish skulls. The eyes were lit with one gold and one blue orb each. Inside the mouths, a ball of cool-toned grey power throbbed like a heartbeat. It had a mane of bone, not unlike the bony frill of a Triceratops, and two horns extended from each side of its head. The second row of teeth was layered inside the first to complete the horrifying ensemble. "W-who did that?" She shrunk back fearfully from the skeletal canine heads.

"Well, that's different." Sans observed. He, too, sounded frail and shaken. "Can you control the one on your side?" He asked of Alphys.

"P-perhaps." She raised her free hand and flicked a single finger. The gaping maw of the evolved gaster blaster opened wide and shot a beam of grey energy into the wall. By some miracle, the wall was only singed. Alphys sighed. "I guess this means we aren't getting our deposit back."

"This'll take some getting used to." Sans got up and carefully pulled Stella with him. "So, what happens when we, you know, let go?"

Alphys trailed a finger along a line of text in the book. "It doesn't say anything specific to our situation. This hasn't been done with a human before, but it describes the process a monster goes through and…and usually a monster conduit is destroyed."

"That definitely explains the rarity of conduit souls, if they're a one-time-use kinda thing." Stella didn't feel like dying this way, but if that thing about human souls was true, then she might be able to get out of this alive. "We can't exactly hold hands forever, so I'm going to try to draw on my 'determination' to keep myself alive. On three, we'll separate…one…two…THREE!" Her friends jerked their hands away.

In ancient times, there was a type of torture where the victim was forced to almost completely swallow a towel. The torturer would wait for sufficient amount of time and then the towel would be ripped from the victim's mouth, often bringing their guts with it. This, Stella imagined, felt similar to that torture method. When her friends pulled away, she felt all of their power rip from her like a fish with a hook stuck in its gills.

CRACK

Her chest heaved as she felt a vibration within her. It was a greater agony than she'd experienced by far. Somehow, she innately knew her soul had broken. Numbness followed in the wake of the pain and was spreading through her body. Sans and Alphys were saying something, yelling at her, but the words were muffled by the ocean of impending death.

 _No, I said I could do this. I will do this, damn it. It's not over. I can do this. COME BACK._

 ** _[CONTINUE?]_**

 _Hell, yes, I'm gonna continue. I'm not ready to die yet._

Her hearing was the first to return. Her vision grew lighter, like she was speeding through a tunnel, until she could see normally. Her breaths rattled in her chest, which was aching for air, and she gaped her mouth open like a dying fish desperate for life. Her arms and legs twitched as she regained feeling. "I did it." Her voice was rough, as if she'd gargled gravel, and her entire body felt boneless. "Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah, we're…we're okay, but we shouldn't try this again for a while." Alphys mumbled.

"I think that's enough tests for today." Sans scooped her up and she had no strength to protest. "Thanks for helpin', Alphys. We'll see ya around." He teleported straight to the house. "You're comin' with me tonight. Gotta make sure you're okay."

"Bed?" She murmured sleepily. Every single part of her hurt, muscles she didn't even know she had ached like they'd been shorn to threads, and it even hurt to breathe. It felt like nails were being pressed into her lungs. Her mind wanted to shut down and reload.

"Yeah, bed. Ya need anythin'?" He laid her down on something soft that smelled strongly of him.

"Pain." She moaned into the bedcovers. She was now hanging on to consciousness by a thread and that thread was bearing the weight of her exhausted mind. Before she could slip into the darkness, a pill was pressed against her lips. A glass of water followed to help it go down.

()()()

The next thing she knew, someone was sobbing loudly right beside her ear. "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!" Moisture dripped down the side of her face and puddled on the pillow under her head. The crying person must have been there for a long time.

"Papyrus?" She groggily attempted to move, but she was being held down by his remarkably substantial weight.

"Stella?!" He wiped at his eye sockets and hugged her tighter. "I thought you were going to die! I thought…I thought I k-killed you!"

She rubbed the wetness off the side of her face and groaned. Every movement felt like she was swimming in molasses. Her limbs felt like lead weights had been strapped to them and her head was pounding like someone had taken a hammer to her skull. "What are you talking about?" She sucked in a pained breath as she tried to sit up.

Pap saw what she wanted and helped her settle up on the pillows. "The sushi…I thought that Sans's magic didn't work as well as we thought."

She massaged her temples. "Where am I?"

"Sans's room!" Papyrus chirped. "He said he brought you in here because you weren't feeling well and he wanted to keep an eye out. He asked me to watch you while he went to buy ice packs, some medication, and a thermometer." He placed the back of his hand against her forehead. "You have a fever, so we wanted to be on the safe side of things." His hand lingered for a moment more. "I was so worried."

She heaved a sigh. "Papyrus, why are you always worried that I'm going to die?"

Papyrus's face fell and she feared he'd start to cry again. "Because that's what humans do." He mumbled depressively.

She pulled him into a hug of her own. He relaxed a little against her stomach and chest. "Don't worry about it, Pap. Humans do die, but there's no point in fretting about it until the day it happens. It will happen, some day or another, but the best thing anyone can do is make the most of the time we have."

"B-but you'll be gone." He cuddled up to her. Cuddling with a skeleton wasn't exactly ideal; his ribs poked her chest sharply and his fingertips had accidentally scraped her twice as he squirmed to get comfortable.

"You'll always have Sans." She rubbed little circles all over his shoulders. "You'll always get to be a great brother."

There was silence for a long time and she might have thought he'd fallen asleep due to her ministrations. "I know I'm not the greatest or the best at stuff…or…anything really." His shoulders drooped and his vertebrae curved against her stomach as he slouched. Something was wrong, she knew because Papyrus _never_ slouched. "I…I just want people to like me, but everyone treats me like a bad joke. Even if they do like me, I can tell they think I'm dumb." His fists hit the bed. "I'm NOT dumb."

"I don't think you're dumb, Pap." She curled her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. "And you're not a joke. You're sweet and passionate and you always find a way to bring out the best in people." She rested her head on his shoulder. "You have friends who appreciate you for who you truly are." She wasn't amazing at comforting people, but she was pretty good at telling the truth.

"I need to tell you something." He sounded uncharacteristically serious. All bravado had been wiped out of his tone. The wind had gone from his sails and he was lost at sea. "I'm afraid you'll hate me for it."

"I wouldn't hate you." She couldn't imagine hating him for any reason. He could tell her that he'd committed a murder and she'd help him hide the body. That was an exaggeration, of course, but she honestly couldn't think of a situation that could make her hate him.

""H-human…" Papyrus stammered out. He re-positioned them both, so that they were now sitting side by side. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and hugged her securely to his ribs. She snuggled deeper into the embrace and sighed happily. She smiled up at him and he tentatively placed one hand gently on her waist. "Are you more comfortable like this?"

She nodded and then her smile was slowly replaced with a nervous frown. "Are you ready to tell me?" She slipped her hand over his. A creaking sound by the door made her jerk forward.

"What is it?" He asked. "Is it that pesky human man again?! Sans and I will be happy to bring him to justice!" He quickly sat up and glared suspiciously around the room, as if Tyler would pop out a crack in the wall, but she tugged him gently back down.

"No, it's just the house settling." She glanced away and started to fidget with a stray thread on the blanket. She groaned and sighed. "I'm sorry I changed the subject. It's just hard to say, Pap. I'm worried." How could she articulate her fears of that monstrosity in the dark that haunted her steps both in the waking world and in her most terrible reveries?

"Worried?" He parroted in a questioning tone. "You have nothing to worry about when I am here!" He thought for a second. "Well, perhaps, you should worry about what new forms of life have been evolving in Sans's closet!"

It wasn't actually that dirty in Sans's room. It was just cluttered and there were a few articles of clothing strewn about. Nonetheless, the crack at his brother's expense made her chuckle. "Pap, you and Sans make me so happy. I'm worried about the reason why you are so afraid of making me hate you."

He took a moment to breathe. "Alright, I believe you." He scratched his head in a way that was reminiscent of his brother. "If it weren't impossible for a monster as practical as myself, I'd say I was going crazy! You'll never believe what I saw when I came in here-"

Footsteps outside the door gave Papyrus reason to pause. Sans pushed the door open. "Thanks for lookin' after 'er, Pap." He had a plastic bag hooked on his arm. "I brought the Fevernull and the rest of the stuff." He dumped everything out on his side table. "I'll go put the ice packs in the freezer after we check that fever.." He cracked the thermometer package open and turned it on. She held the device under her tongue until it beeped. "You gotta tell me if the temp is off. Got no idea what's normal for humans."

She took it out of her mouth and read it. "It's 99.8" They gave her blank looks. "I don't need to go to the hospital, but I'll probably not be going to work tomorrow." She poured out a dose of the cherry-flavored medication, drank it quickly down, and wrinkled her nose at the dreadful, sickly-sweet aftertaste. "Sans, Pap thought he did this to me. We need to tell him what happened at Alphys's house."

Sans's jaw tensed. She knew he would hesitate to say anything that could possibly upset his brother, but Pap needed to hear this. She wasn't put off of exploring this new ability she'd discovered by the fact that she'd been brought to the brink of death. It had tested all of her limits in one go, which left her desiring another chance to try it. Could she possibly stretch her tolerance to accommodate the magic more easily? What if this was like training a muscle and she could eventually channel and mix magic with ease? She impatiently waited for Sans to say something. "Guess you're right."

They delved into an explanation of the events to Papyrus. When they were finished, he was flabbergasted. "Wowie, can I see it?"

She gave her permission. "It's fairly unsettling to look at, apparently, so you might want to prepare for that." Thankfully, he wasn't so shocked when he coaxed her soul out as Sans had been. Her soul cast a glow that simulated a snowstorm of dust. The grey, speckled with light shadows caused by the scars, washed out her skin and made her look as lively as a corpse. It was a vain discontentment to dislike the color of her own soul, but how could one not recoil back from something so visually repulsive?

"I…I like it!" He turned it in his hands. "It's like…hm…Sans…what would you say this color resembles?" Sans opened his mouth, but Pap beat him to the punch. "Oh, I know, it's like those silky suit coats or fancy ties lots of humans wear! Yes, that is definitely what it reminds me of."

"My soul…is the color of a…tie…" She couldn't restrain her laughter. Pap certainly knew how to cheer a person up. "Anyway, now that I'm feeling a bit better, I want to discuss practice with you two." Sans's skull lost all humor and Papyrus frowned sternly at her. She held up her hands defensively. "I know, I know, you think it's a huge risk, but I survived my first time with no real idea of what I was doing, so my theory is that it'll get easier. You know, like training a muscle to get stronger over time? That way, if we ever _have_ to do it, it won't be so tough or risky."

Sans's voice was dark. "I don't like where you're goin' wit' this."

Her eyes were made to appear black by the dim light. When her eyes connected with Papyrus's, he felt as though he'd been cast beneath the waves of an ocean into a forest of kelp where only the slightest hint of light broke through the darkness. He'd never seen her so determined; her sea of willpower was at high tide. "Brother…I think our human is right. It is better to be prepared than not."

Sans ran one hand over his skull. His attention zeroed in on her soul and his misgivings were plain to see. He was afraid, though of what she could not ascertain, and he was struggling with the decision. She would practice, with or without him, but he felt he should be there with her. He hovered over the newest addition to the plethora of scars that marred her soul; the one that he and Alphys had caused. It was a spiderwebbed crack, sort of like the type of damage one sees in old dishware, straight down the middle. "I don't want t' make any of 'em worse."

She took her soul in hand and placed his finger on a different scar. In both their minds appeared a memory without sound; it was the cause of that particular scar. It was old and the memory showed that by becoming blurry or distorted in places. In it, a plump, human woman was laid out on a gurney. Her skin was ashen, but mottled with greyish-blue like the veins had risen to the surface. The memory faded out and Stella shuddered. "Don't worry about it. It can't get any worse than the first time, right? I'll be okay. I don't know why, but I've got this weird, gut feeling it'll be different."

"Okay. We'll try it again, but only after you're completely recovered." He finally relented. "I'll call Grillby an' let 'im know ya can't come in for work tomorrow."

She giggled and rolled her eyes. "Sans, I'm capable of calling him myself."

He teleported out of the room for a couple of heartbeats and then returned with her phone in his hand. "Not if ya ain't got your cell." She made a swipe for it, but he jerked out of reach. "Nuh-uh, I'll handle it. Pap, help 'er down to her room an' get her settled back in there."

Pap re-loaded the plastic bag with everything she needed. She untangled her legs from Sans's comforter and stood up a bit too fast. She wobbled and crumpled back on the mattress. He tutted at her and hoisted her up like she weighed nothing. It was rather impressive, considering she'd never been picked up before. If her head wasn't spinning from the rush of blood, she would have commented on it. As it was, opening her mouth seemed like a bad idea. A sudden bout of nausea made her hand fly to her mouth. She gagged a little, but nothing came up. Papyrus shifted to carrying her bridal style when he realized her discomfort at being thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"Stella, do you feel ready to eat again?" Pap asked once he'd gently placed her in her own bed.

She held up a finger and swallowed hard before she spoke. "Maybe…maybe some crackers or something? Or oatmeal. Yeah, a little bit of oatmeal and some water or juice will be good."

"Are you sure you wouldn't like some spaghetti?"

She winced at his question. "Sorry, Pap, I can't…wait…" She noticed that he was grinning widely and his eye lights sparkled. "You're fucking with me, aren't you?"

"Well, I would have used less crude terminology to describe it, but…yes, I was." He ducked, laughing heartily, as she threw a pillow at his head. "Too slow, human. You'll never beat my lightning-fast reflexes!" He snagged the pillow off the floor and chucked it back at her. It hit her squarely in the nose.

"Oh, now, it's on!"

He skedaddled up the stairs to escape her second throw. "Actually, it is not. I will return with your oatmeal and juice as soon as possible. Perhaps Sans will oblige your violent tendencies." He smirked at her.

She could hear him upstairs, humming away as he cooked, and warmth overflowed in her heart. She had been changing, slowly and surely, but it felt like this new discovery had catapulted her forward. She felt ready for almost anything. It was a sense of empowerment that she'd never experienced before in her life. For once, she was in control of who she was and what she wanted to do with her life. It was amazing, overwhelming, and it was partially because she'd met them. It was sad, looking back on how much time she'd wasted on being reactive instead of proactive, but now she was resolute in her decision to never slip back into that pathetic rut she'd called a life. The comfort of sharing a home with Sans and Papyrus filled her with determination.


	6. Chapter 6

Grocery shopping is an important task for nearly every household. It involves proper planning, budgeting, and a knowledge of the preferences of everyone in the home. It is an unavoidable chore, although it can be an enjoyable one. Unfortunately, this particular trip wasn't destined to be a pleasant one in any regard.

It started the moment she stepped inside the automatic doors and happened to pass by one of her neighbors. She'd never spoken with him before, so they weren't very well acquainted. For the sake of politeness, however, she chose to nod at him in acknowledgement and go on her way. She nearly forgot about even seeing him in the first place because she was completely focused on finding everything on her list.

Lemon pepper, garlic salt, sage, paprika...glitter? She opted for edible glitter because she had a nagging feeling that Pap still got confused over these things and she dreaded a repeat of the sushi incident. In fact, that was the main reason she'd volunteered to do the shopping this month. She knew things about the human world and human cuisine that her friends had yet to learn. They couldn't, and shouldn't, be expected to learn everything in the span of only four years.

Plus, Pap wasn't interested in any hobbies beyond cooking or baking, so she doubted he needed the glitter for a craft project. She smiled to herself and tossed the spices into the basket of the buggy before moving on to the next aisle. She caught a glimpse of someone leaning around the shelves at the opposite end of the baking supply aisle, but thought nothing of it.

She picked up a few small shakers of various colored cake glitter, some white icing, a pack of food dye, and had to turn around to get a couple of bags of chocolate chips. She saw her neighbor again, standing by the flour, and a weird, uneasy feeling bubbled up from her gut. It had looked like he'd been on his way out before. She shook it off and figured that he'd simply forgotten some things. No need to be paranoid about it.

She picked up the chips, but she needed a sack of sugar and flour, too. Despite her misgivings, she confidently made her way up to where her neighbor was seemingly examining prices or brands. She ignored the stare he directed at her for a few seconds before she cracked. "Can I help you?" Her question came out more irritated than was necessary, but she was no longer in the right mood to mind her manners.

He wasted no time in getting to the point. "You moved in with those two pucks, right?"

She bit her tongue to force back the words she wanted to say in response to the slur he'd used. "Yes, but only just recently. Is there something else you needed?"

He was a tall guy, mid-thirties, and quite lanky. He couldn't have been under 6'5, and he wore a threadbare camouflage jacket over a gray t-shirt. He shifted uncomfortably. "I just thought...do you need...you know...help?"

She frowned. "Wait, what?"

"Well, you know...did they put a spell on you or something? That's kidnapping. I can call the police for you if you want. They'll never know you told anyone." He rambled out more nonsensical crap, but she stopped listening and started to slowly walk away.

This man clearly needed assistance, so she instantly decided to keep calm and try to get away without causing a scene. He noticed her, though, and grabbed her wrist. "Let go of me." She commanded coldly.

"No, no, it's okay! I just want to help you." He insisted eagerly.

"I don't need your help. I live where I live because I want to. No one threatened or coerced me." She hissed and jerked her hand back. "Now, please let me be. I am not under any spells and I am not in danger. If you touch me again, I will resort to self-defense." That was a bluff. She didn't know any self-defense beyond pressing down the nozzle of her pepper spray. It would be unwise to do that in a shopping center, though, and it could probably put her in some legal trouble. But he didn't know that.

He narrowed his eyes in anger. "You moved in there willingly?" He said, aghast at her. "Are you one of those faek-lovers or something?"

"It's none of your business if I am." She tried to maneuver her cart around him, but he grabbed the end and held it still.

"Don't you know what those bastards can do?" He snarled down at her. "They can eat our souls and, if they get enough they could end the whole goddamn world!"

"Why would they choose to end the world if they want to live in it?" She posed her question with a hint of sass."And this is harassment, sir. Let go."

"How can you care about a bunch of ticking time bombs running amok in our town, when we've got homeless veterans sleeping under trashbags to keep warm at night?" He growled menacingly.

She looked right in the eye. "Because they're people, too." She used his surprise at her sharp retort to wrench her cart away and trotted off, but she hadn't noticed that their conversation had drawn an audience.

A small number of intreged people had gathered at both ends of the aisle to watch the verbal showdown. She felt a rush of embarrassment and put her head down as she tried to walk by. "Excuse me." She lifted her eyes to find the source of the voice and her gaze landed on a white-furred goat-like monster. "I couldn't help overhearing. Are you alright, dear?"

She cleared her throat awkwardly and felt her cheeks burn hotter. "Yeah, thanks."

"Hm," The goat monster smiled kindly. "My name is Toriel. After what just happened, I would feel much better if you allowed me to accompany you through the rest of the store."

"Oh, that's alright. I...I think I handled it well enough." She nervously scratched the back of her neck. She wasn't comfortable with getting attention over assholes being assholes. And why did the name Toriel sound so familiar?

"Indeed, you were very brave, but please humor me." Toriel extended a hand in greeting.

"Okay, if it will put your mind at ease..." She shook hands. "I'm Stella, by the way."

"Oh! Bless my stars! You wouldn't happen to be Sans's friend Stella, would you?" She clasped her hands together happily. "He's said so much about you! Almost bragging, really, but, then again, he's always been odd..." She chortled to herself. "He hasn't mentioned me at all?"

"Yes, now that I think about it, but it was only in a passing. I don't really know what he could possibly brag about me to you, though." She bit her lip and wondered what in the world he'd been saying. There honestly wasn't much to go on about.

Toriel's soft, black eyes twinkled like stars on a clear night. "Oh, you'd be surprised. He usually talks about how you're so wonderful with Papyrus or any number of other things. I'm elated to have finally ran into you."

She and Toriel continued their conversation up until her grocery checklist was finished and all the way to the checkout counter. "Thanks for keeping me company, Toriel. I'll be sure to let Sans know we finally crossed paths." She waved goodbye as she rolled her heavy buggy back to her car.

It took her a few minutes to get everything in the trunk, and when she looked up, she saw her neighbor again. He was openly glaring at her, but she paid him no mind, got into her little silver Cruze, and drove away. She had a passing urge to flip him off, but that was neither mature nor would it help the situation in way other than to give her a measure of childish satisfaction.

She had the four to midnight shift at Grillby's today, so she would have the house to herself for the rest of the day. She relished the thought because she wanted to run a hot bath, maybe read a few chapters of a book, and take a nap before heading in. She definitely needed the opportunity to de-stress after that awful encounter. Hopefully, he'd avoid her now.

As soon as she got home she heated some assorted left-overs, ate quickly, and brought her toiletry container up to the bathroom.

She'd only been soaking for half an hour before there was a knock at the door. She hurriedly wrapped herself in a towel, secured her bathrobe over that and ran downstairs to get the door. Funnily enough it was Undyne, full police regalia. "So, did you forget to tell me about another party?" She was grinning widely.

"Huh?" Stella laughed and gestured down at herself.

"Oh? So, it's that kind of party." Undyne snickered. "Well, try to keep it down. We got a noise complaint."

"Seriously? I was taking a bath and no one else is home." She told her, completely baffled by this mistake.

"And you don't happen to have Metallica or Dragonforce on your bathtime playlist, do you?" Undyne teased. "Nah, just fucking with ya, punk. It was probably just a mix up, let me check." She ran back to her squad car, brought the the radio receiver to her mouth and had a quick conversation. Her scaly brow furrowed with confusion and she replaced the receiver. "No mistake on our end." She shook her head. "Probably some dumb kid pulling a prank. Sorry I bothered you. Oh, before I go...where'd you get that sexy-ass robe? I saw yours, and now I wanna get one for Alphys."

"It's never a bother." She smiled up at her. "I got it at Alton's Department Store. It's this quaint little place down on Rosehip Boulevard."

Three hours later, she had settled in front of the tv with a snack. She still had an hour and a half before heading back out. There came another knock on the door. Puzzled, she glanced at the time. Sans wasn't going to be home for another thirty minutes. She got up and reached for the knob. "Heya."

"Undyne?" Her jaw dropped.

"Another prank call, I guess." Undyne groaned.

"At least I'm dressed this time." She joked as the initial shock wore off.

"I figured it was bullshit, but we're required to check it out every time someone calls."

"Do you know who's been complaining?" She was terribly curious, even if turned out to be an obnoxious teenager.

"We can try to trace the next call if we think someone's trying to single you out as a target for harassment. If they send me out here again, we'll do something about this, sound good to you?"

"Sure, but I'm heading out to work in a bit. Sans will be here, though, so I'll let him know what's been going on." She slumped against the doorway. "I'll see ya, hun. Say hi to Alphys for me."

"Will do."

She was halfway through her shift when she got a text from Sans.

{Yo, did you piss off our neighbor or something?}

Stunned, she texted back immediately. {Guilty. He was stalking me at the store and we had a heated ?}

{He was the one ringing the station.}

{Well, that's incredibly petty. Are they going to do anything about it?}

{It's a he said/she said thing. No proof one way or the other. They gave him a warning about dicking around, though.}

What was with this guy? {What if he pulls something worse? He got pretty grabby back at the store.}

{...He grabbed you?}

{Yeah, I mean, nothing happened, I took care of it.} He didn't reply back, which left her in a state of apprehensive suspense for the remainder of the night. She had no idea what would be said when she made it back home that night.


	7. Chapter 7

It had been nearly a week since her first experimentation with Alphys and Sans. She was feeling refreshed, focused, and had her heart set on trying it again. Alphys appeared to be leery of the idea, just as Sans had, but her fears were soon soothed by Stella's confidence. Stella was terribly sure that this time would be different, but she did make sure to bring a bottle of aspirin, a sports drink high in electrolytes, and kept her cell phone by her side with 911 on speed-dial in case something went wrong again.

Unfortunately, her aspirations concerning this secondary trial were proven wrong so completely that it would have been fair to say that she ended up heart-broken over it…literally. She died again, which felt surreal and caused her to wonder how many other people could say they came so close to non-existence multiple times in their lives. There was the blinding pain, too, to be dealt with, but it was honestly not as bad because she'd been prepared for it this time around. The only thing that was worse was they'd made the mistake of staying together too long and, when they had finally separated,Stella had been so overwhelmed by the pain and shock of their withdrawl that she'd vomited all over the rug.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled and shivered under the blanket Alphys had thrown over her. She had to force down the pill before her rolling stomach gave in again to the pain that pounded behind her eyes.

Alphys was scrubbing at the carpet. "N-no, it's fine. We were planning on getting the carpet steam-cleaned this weekend, anyway." She pulled off her yellow kitchen gloves and deposited them in the sink to be sterilized in the dishwasher later. "Sans, I think you both need to go home. You both look like you were dragged behind a team of rabid horses." It wasn't entirely an exaggeration.

"I need a shower." Stella moaned.

"You can barely stand up." Sans grumbled, helped her to her feet, and offered her his coat to replace the blanket. "No showers."

"Bath?" She didn't bother protesting when he lifted her up. She felt horrible; almost worse than last time because her body didn't grant her the reprieve of unconciousness.

"Yeah, I'll run ya a bath." He promised. "Do ya want rose petals, too?"

It took her moment to realize he was joking. "Oh, shut up." She let out a disgruntled snort. "No need to rub this in my face. Besides, I can handle it." She said as he lowered her into the tub and drew the curtain to avoid any awkwardness. She wiggled out of her clothes and dropped them over the edge to the floor, turned the temperature to hot as the fires of hell, and relaxed into the water. "Once I'm no longer wet behind my ears, I know it'll get better."

She heard him stifle a chuckle. It was adorable when he tried to be serious. "I don't want to see ya torture yourself."

"I know, Sans, but you've got to trust me." She reached her hand through the drawn curtain and felt his fingers brush along the skin of her wrist. "I want to be in control of this…conduit stuff…now more than ever. There may come a day when using it is our only option, and I will do whatever is in my power to keep you and the others safe. I don't have magic. I'm not coordinated enough to be trusted with weapons. This is the only way I can contribute and it makes me feel like I'm worth something."

"You don't need this to be worth somethin' to me." His voice was rough with emotion. "Ya don't…ya don't need to tear your fuckin' soul apart over and over again to protect us. I'm puttin' my foot down, darlin'. This is for yer own good. No more conduit practice."

"I'm sorry you feel that way, Sans. I would've preferred if you were more supportive." She said softly. "You know I'm just going to ask Undyne to take your place, right?"

He said nothing for a couple of heartbeats. "Yeah, yeah, I know I can't stop ya, but I can refuse to participate or condone this. I'm not gonna let Pap practice with ya, either."

"Fair enough." She sighed and let her head fall back against the cool plastic wall of the shower. "Sans?"

"What?"

"I can't reach the soap."

()()()()

The next day passed in an achy, flu-ish blur. She forced herself to come to work, but it wasn't because she felt like she should be there. Grillby tried to send her home two hours early when he saw her fumble dumbly with a knife while cutting up garnishes. She'd cut herself in her delirium, though it wasn't a deep wound. The knife had barely sliced deeper than the upper layer of skin on her thumb, but Grillby was having none of it. "Go home and rest, you've worked enough for today." He said as she tended to her thumb with supplies from the first-aid box.

"I don't want to." She had a migraine coming on, and she rubbed ruefully at her eyes as if that could stave it off. "At least let me finish one more hour and then I'll head out."

Grillby sighed. "If you're sure, then. You know where I'll be if you need me."

He let her be until four, when she finally removed her nametag and retrieved her purse from her cubby in the office. They exchanged brief goodbyes before she went to leave through the front door, but just as her fingers touched the bar her whole body tensed, her eyes glazed over, and she stumbled back. She managed to right herself before she hit the floor, but another shock pulsed through her entire body without warning. This wasn't right. She'd taken her medication on time today, she knew she had. She flinched again and then again, and she realized that Grillby was shouting something behind her, but she couldn't find time between seizures to focus.

And then she saw it. That same tortured, grinning, skull draped in inky cloth. He was on the other side of the door this time, casting no shadow in the light of the afternoon sun, and he seemed to be mocking her. Her legs gave out and she went crashing to the floor, although her eyes remained locked on whatever creature was tormenting her. She couldn't do anything except focus on it, staring through the door as her body continued to randomly spasm.

She couldn't gauge how much time had passed, but it was long enough for EMTs to arrive. They walked straight through the creature, though it disappeared behind them soon after. It seemed to simply melt away like a morning frost. Her seizures slowed to the point where she could hold a short conversation, punctuated only by momentary jerks.

After she'd been examined, one of the EMTs knelt down to her level. "Do you believe you need to go to the hospital?"

"N*no." She lurched weakly forward. "I'm…fi*ne…" She took the clipboard and signed the yellow waiver.

When all of the excitement finally passed, Grillby let her know he'd called Sans. "He said he'd be here as soon as he could get away for a second." He crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway. "You do know that this means that I simply can't let you come back until you've fullyrecovered. Next time, try not to push yourself."

"Grillby, no one ever made a diff*erence without pushing limits." She mustered a weak smile. "This is j*ust par for…f*or the course."

He pushed his glasses back up. "All the same, I don't think any of your friends want to see you collapse like that. I'm glad it was me, if I'm honest."

She hadn't thought of that. It did seem selfish, when he put it like that, to force herself along. "Pap probably w*ould have had a heart attack." She agreed sadly. She despised the idea of scaring her friend so badly just because she was newly intent on testing herself.

"Scared me half t' dust, too." Sans said from behind them. "Thanks, Grillbz." He pulled her arm around his shoulders for support. "See ya."

He waited until they were home to dish out the lecture. "Maybe you need to set a couple of alarms on yer phone." He thrust her pills into her hands. "What if somethin' worse had happened? You could've fallen on a knife or busted your damn head open-"

"Sans-"

"Or you could've burned yourself or-"

"Sans!" He stopped pacing her room to look at her. "I didn't forget anything. I took my doses at ten and two like I always have." She turned her pills over in her hands. "I have no clue why…I've never even had such a severe cluster." She shuddered violently as she recalled the blurred memory of that hateful creature watching her twitch helplessly on the floor.

He paused with a horrified expression. "This is because of that conduit shit, isn't it? I tried to tell ya t' give up on that!"

She groaned. "Sans, I really don't think that's it. I mean, maybe that contributed, but I'm fairly certain this is something else…I saw something." She twisted her hands anxiously in her lap. "I've seen it a lot, actually, but I didn't want you to think I was making things up or hallucinating. I've been seeing this…this hideous…thing. I don't know what it is, but it looks sort of like a half-melted skeleton monster in some sort of black robe." She grew nervous and backtracked. "It could just be a weird trick my brain's been pulling on me because of stress…"

He pulled a peculiar face; a combination of deep-seated fear and confusion. Then, a curtain seemed to draw itself over his emotions. "Yeah, that's probably what's up. Just…uh…forget about it, 'kay? Nothing to worry about."

She fiddled with the zipper pull on her purse. She was afraid, more terrified than she could ever remember being, that it was not her imagination. That thing was real, regardless of what she wanted to believe. "You know something." She deduced, her eyes went wide with fright. "You know what it is!"

"It isn't polite," He told her. His body language was eerily tense and stiff. "to talk about people who are listening."

The sentence made her blood run cold. Tears were welling up in her eyes. She had no idea what was happening, but this feeling of pure dread would not fade. She reached out to him for comfort, and he took her hand gently. "Hey, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything." He took a seat on the bed beside her. "C'mere." He opened his arms to let her rest her head against his chest. "I won't let anything happen, awright?"

The embrace did help, but she couldn't shake the feeling that these events were surely coming to a head. She bit back a sob that had risen in her throat. Why was this happening? "I know you're worried, Sans, but the only thing that will make me feel safe is knowing I could do something about this."

"No." He replied firmly. "You still haven't gotten over the last time."

"It's the only thing I can do, Sans!" She protested. "If…if something happens and I can't protect anyone or myself…" She let her sentence hang in the air. "You said I could try on my own."

"That was before you worked yourself into a damned fit!" He shot back.

"If you won't let me, then I'll just find a way to do it without you knowing about it. I'm not above sneaking around, if it's for your benefit in the long run."

He groaned and squeezed his sockets shut. "Fine, but you gotta promise you won't let it go as far as last time." He pressed his hand just above her heart.

"It won't happen again." She vowed. She put her hand over his, and their eyes met. She was struck with an overwhelming warmth. He was trying, trying ever so hard, to keep her safe. That was what he did, she'd come to understand that over the brief time she'd spent with him, he believed he had a responsibility to protect everyone he cared for. He was only being obstinant because he didn't want to stand by and let her get hurt. It was a beautiful, sweet thing that stole her breath. She mattered to someone, and that realization inspired courage to blossom inside her. Whatever that thing was, she wasn't going to just let it harass her anymore. She was going to fight back and make it regret it'd ever tried to fuck with her and her family.

Sans insisted that she should stay the rest of the day in bed, but she soon became restless and moved to her love-seat to play a few games. Papyrus didn't leave his security job until 7 pm, so he had no idea what had happened. He was relieved to know she was okay, but she noticed that he paid especially close attention to her for the next three hours. His concerned glances continued through the next day, but she pretended not to notice.

She busied herself by texting Alphys, and they were involved in a serious discussion about some anime Alphys was trying to convince her to watch when she felt a tap on her shoulder. "Sans told me to get you." Pap explained. "We're going to try."

She scrambled off her bed, let Alphys know she had to go, and placed her phone on her nightstand. Sans was waiting in the living room and she noticed that the furniture had been shoved back against the walls to make as much room as possible. The blinds, plus curtains, were drawn for privacy. His hand was extended in invitation and she took it excitedly. Papyrus carefully took the other. Blue and orange swirled up her arms like curlicue wisps of clouds. They met only centimeters above her heart and melted into her chest. There was neither pain nor did she feel over encumbered by the churning power. With every exhale, puffs of magic leaked from her nose like dragon's smoke. She was warm all over, it was an comfortable heat that flooded her body from head to toe, instead of the infernal fever that had plagued her before. Suddenly, a wave of sensation hit her with the force of a tsunami. She gasped loudly and heard twin moans from both sides.

Their eyes were aglow with power and their mouths gaped open. Pap was panting, while Sans was squeezing her hand hard. His cheekbones were airbrushed with a cyan blush. Another thrill sped up her spine and dragged another gasp from her lips. This was entirely different than before, but why? Magic thrummed in her chest as questions swarmed in her head. When she willed the magic down and channeled it into her soul, she could have cried because she felt so utterly complete. "S-sans, try to do that thing from before."

Sans whipped his head around and stared at her like he was seeing her for the first time. His eye pulsed and wavered like a dancing flame in his socket. His grip on her hand tightened almost to the point of pain. "Stellaaa..." She tore her gaze away from Sans to turn to Papyrus, who seemed equally affected. His sockets were blown wider than she'd ever seen and he seemed dazed, yet he was giving her such an intense look that she had to avert her eyes.

She looked up to find a familiar set of floating skulls, yet they had retained their canine features, however, every angle seemed sharper and their fangs had overgrown so that the tips surpassed the top and bottom jaws. Gray fire enveloped both skulls. A pair of massive, ram-like horns curled tightly and jutted out from the back of their heads. "You can use the one on your side, Pap."

Papyrus slowly raised his free hand to direct his blaster's movements. He seemed to concentrate hard for a second and the skull fluctuated quickly between blue and white. "I can still do my blue attack!" He crowed happily and accidentally made a gesture that caused his blaster to grow exponentially in size. "This is quite an interesting development."

"This...isn't how it went before." Sans stated with surprise. He summoned a snaking, curving obstacle course of bones and found that he, too, could use Papyrus's attacks. With Stella acting as their conduit, the brothers could now access each others unique abilities and, if Alphys was right, they were all but invincible, though they weren't too keen on testing that particular theory.

There was still some pain when the brothers released her, but it was more like the sting of a paper cut, as opposed to being gutted, and she was able to stay on her feet. In fact, she only felt a tad light-headed and breathless, which passed in a matter of minutes. When the sweat of exertion had evaporated, and the trio'd had a chance to rest, she grinned at both of them. "Progress!" She crowed proudly.


	8. Chapter 8

***NOTE*** **I cannot stress enough how sorry I am about chapters 6-8 ending up in Unicode HTML. I think it was some kind of technical error caused by the formatting on A03 vs the formatting on , which is strange in itself because they didn't look at all like that when I was going through them pre-upload. I'm sorry for the difficulty in reading through those and for the false 'update' message some of you who follow the story will get after I had to re-upload those chapters. I promise, though, I will get chapter 9 up as soon as possible to make up for it!**

Her roommates had changed.

They'd begun acting…off, not in a bad way, but ever since her (successful!) practice with the brothers, they'd been strange around her. Papyrus was especially noticable because, while he was a touchy-feely type of person, he started injecting _more_ physical contact into their daily interactions. She was glomped so frequently that she'd started preparing for it the very moment she stepped in the door. Today, for instance, it seemed like the moment he'd heard the knob turning, Pap was ready and waiting to pull her into a bone-crushing hug. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy his affections, in fact, she loved it, but it was definitely an inexplicable, marked change in his normal behavior. "Human!" He exclaimed joyfully.

"How was work today, Pap?" She hung her wind-breaker up on the coat rack. It'd started to grow warmer recently as winter haltingly eased into spring.

"Well, a deer broke into the guardhouse last night." His eye lights sparkled with laughter like fairy lights at Christmas. "It leaped over a nine-foot fence and straight through the window. The other guards were scared out of their minds, but, I…The Great Papyrus…found it to be hilarious. I caught the creature and held it still until animal control arrived. My uniform was shredded by the glass, but I was unhurt."

"You restrained a fully-grown deer by yourself?" She balked at the idea.

"A buck, to be precise." He said with great amusement. "It was fairly wiggly, but I suppose I'd be wiggly, too, if I were in its position. I've heard glass splinters are terribly uncomfortable."

She stared at him blankly for a moment. She'd known his physical strength was nothing to scoff at, but that was incredible! "Pap…how strong are you, exactly?"

"Oh," He pondered her question for a moment. "I'm not sure, why?" An indescernable expression pulled at the bones around his mouth and eyes, but he was obviously trying to act innocent. She could have sworn he was…teasing her?

"What're you up, too, Pap?" She asked suspiciously.

He gave her a uncharacteristically feral grin. "Nothing at all!" The silly façade dropped for just a second to reveal something else. He put his gloved hands behind his back. "I have dinner ready, it'll get cold if you don't hurry." He put a hand on her shoulder and guided her into the kitchen.

He nibbled on an apple while she ate and said nothing until she was finished. He picked her plate up to deposite it in the sink, and then _left it there_. Something was absolutely wrong, he never left dishes in the sink for later. "Are you upset, Pap? You've been acting weird for a while. Did I do something wrong?"

His brow furrowed in confusion. "No, it isn't you." He answered thoughtfully. "Although, it also most certainly is."

"I'm not following you, sorry." She folded her hands in her lap demurely and waited to be involved in one of those typical, 'please stop this annoying habit' roommate conversations.

"I should explain." His steps were measured, calculated, like he was suddenly entirely aware of his surroundings. He braced his hands on the table and bent down to look her in the eye. "Sans and I are very much alike, though I'm sure other people would be unlikely to agree with me on that. We both enjoy making people laugh, for one thing. Unlike my brother, I enjoy more superior forms of comedy such as; highlighting the absurdities in life and even the occasional slapstic bit." He eyed her hopefully. "Do you see where I'm going with this, human?"

"Who are you and what have you done with my Papyrus?" Her smile faded as he arched an eyebrow at her. "Wait, do you mean you've just been…"

"Putting on a front? A little." He winked at her. "The whole 'Great Papyrus' spiel never fails to inspire a chuckle, after all. I want people to like me, but it's a challange to be endearing when you're pushing six feet and can lift a car with one hand, so I have to work harder to accomplish it. I told you before, Stella, I am _not_ dumb. I simply love acting a bit silly, though the drawbacks…" He paused. "It does bother me somewhat that everyone sees me the way they do, even if I brought it on myself."

"It sounds like you're trying to make a point."

"I can see I'll need to be blunt. Do you still want to know how strong I am, human?" He didn't wait for her to answer. "I could pick up that cute, toy car of yours and toss it a hundred yards, if I wanted."

She shivered. "That's…um…pretty cool, Pap."

"It is." He agreed. "Did you know Sans finally told me what that foul villain did to you?"

She had to wrack her brain to understand his question. "You mean Tyler? Or the neighbor?"

"Hm, both, I suppose, but I was specifically speaking of Tyler. I despise violence, but I wish I wouldn't have held back. So, can you imagine what might have happened if I hadn't? Knowing what you now, I mean." He rested his forehead against hers.

"You…you could have killed him?"

"Precisely!" His eyes were predatory and she wasn't sure how to feel about seeing this new side of him. "So, please, if anyone else troubles you, direct them to me. Or Sans, if I'm not available. Preferably me, because you know I enjoy _cleaning up and taking out the garbage_." He was about to say something else when he sniffed the air and gasped. "Oh no, the pie!" He lunged for the oven door, only to find that the pastry was unsalvagable. The crust was a blackened mess and the filling had cooked down to goo.

She tried to console him. "We can get dessert from that place down the road. They're open late." Plus, it was only eight at night, so they wouldn't be walking in the door at five minutes till closing, since that diner didn't lock its doors until 1 am.

He sighed heavily in defeat. "I was just so excited to try my hand at blueberry pie!" He exclaimed glumly as he tipped the entire thing into the trash.

She thanked whatever gods were looking out for her that the pie was scorched. "Yes, it's shame." Inside, she was secretly relieved.

"What's a shame?" She gave a frightened start, and slapped her hand over her heart. Sans chuckled as he plodded over to the fridge. "Scared ya, doll? Sorry 'bout that."

"I burned the pie." Papyrus pouted by the trashcan. She wasn't entirely convinced he wouldn't start singing TAPS for it. "Now we have to…order out." He said the words like they were filth to be scraped off his tongue.

"Grea-…I mean, that sucks. Sorry, bro."

"Nice save." She whispered as soon as Pap had left the room to get his scarf for their outting. Pap returned a minute later and insisted that they take his car. Sans shrugged indifferently because it took more effort on his part to take company on shortcuts, so they walked out the door and into the cool, night air.

It was misty and drizzling; perfect weather a slice of warm pie or a plateful of gooey, freshly-made cookies. They were about to get into the cherry-red convertible, when Stella caught Sans staring into their neighbor's yard. The very same neighbor who'd tried to get them into trouble only two weeks before was standing outside with a smoke trapped between his lips. The blood-red tip of his cigarette lit up with every drag like a one-eyed demon was staring them down.

Without a word or warning, Sans was already marching over. "Hiya, pal." He gave a lazy, half-hearted wave. "Oh, hey, c'mon, no need to go back inside." Their neighbor, who'd been in the middle of a tactful retreat, froze in his tracks. "I just wanted to say that we might've got off on the wrong foot."

"What?"

"Yeah, you know, _because I somehow gave you the impression you're allowed to put your fithy mitts on my friends_." He shortcutted straight up to the man's face and flicked his cigarette out of his mouth. "You so much as point in her general direction again and I'll have you locked up toot sweet…after I'm done kicking your ass six ways to Sunday."

"Sans, if you keep threatening the neighbors, our property value will go down! What if we want to buy a nicer house someday?" Papyrus tapped his foot irritably, but his smiled sweetly at Stella. "That's Sans, for you, always caught up in the heat of the moment."

"Bro, that's the pot callin' the kettle black." Sans remarked with a chuckle.

"That was unnecessary, Sans." Stella huffed. "I told you I took care of it a long time ago."

"It was absolutely necessary, babe." He assured her, sliding right into the backseat beside her. "Assholes gotta know their place." He looped an arm around her shoulders and winked at his brother's reflection in the rear-view mirror. "Right, Paps?"

"Ugh, brother, sometimes you task me. Besides, _I_ wanted to say something."

"Izzat the real reason why yer annoyed? Coulda tagged ya in, if ya'd asked."

"We have pie to buy, Sans! _My_ point would have been made concisely," And then he added as an apparent afterthought. "With a brick."

"Are you two seriously having a conversation about offing people?!"

He turned his head to grin back at her. "Yep." He popped his 'p'. "Why, got any special requests or creative ideas?" He tugged her closer.

"I thought monsters were pacifists." She mumbled into the faux fur that lined his hoodie.

"Most of us are. I guess Pap and I are just… _bad to the bone_." He sent himself into a fit of laughter punctuated by muffled snorts.

"Okay, now that one was truly awful." Stella remarked, though she was trying to hold back giggles.

"I swear to Polaris, Sans, I will turn this car around!"

The strangeness did not end after that night, to her confusion and dismay. It was distressing, and she often wondered if they were trying to be so friendly to overcompensate for her unpleasant experience with the neighbor. She didn't even care that much about it anymore, for goodness sake! There was no need to dote on her or glower into submission the whispering busy-bodies that tittered at her whenever they went out. Sans, the laziest of lazybones, even once popped in with take-out when she'd forgotten her lunch one day _on his day off_. It was mind-boggling.

She wasn't entirely complaining because these gestures were awfully sweet, but she was currently considering polite ways to tell them she didn't require them to handle her with kid gloves. She was a relaxed person, and she wasn't easily angered or made upset. She was typically more often the type to let things go and, while she'd be the first to admit she was passive to a fault, she was thankful she had a healthy enough mindset to be able to allow the small (or even the bigger things) slide. It simply made life easier in the long run, and it definitely saved her a lot of lost sleep.

So, in order to get things off her mind, she decided to set to work on her next self-esteem restoration project. She made the appointment for a few days down the line and could barely contain her excitement as the date drew nearer. Her friends, of course, took notice of her re-newed energy. "You've been bouncing off the walls, human. Have you been drinking too much iced coffee again? I told you, caffeine is a drug just as much as alcohol or-"

She stopped Papyrus mid-nag. "No, Pap, I'm just excited is all."

"Well, spill the beans." Sans lifted his steaming mug of go-go juice to his teeth and took a gulp. She'd watched him make that and internally cringed because his morning joe was always more sugar (with a splash of Bailey's) than actual coffee.

"I'm getting a tattoo tomorrow!" She blurted out altogether too loudly.

"Indoor voice, sweetheart." Sans reminded her while grinning over the lip of his cup. "And cool, what of?"

She shook her head. "I don't want to spoil the surprise. I'll let you both see it when it's finished, but, until then, my lips are sealed." She made a zipping motion over her mouth.

"Always been kinda jealous of the humans and monsters who could do body jewelry. Thought about gettin' a tooth or two gold-plated, but I figured it'd look too douchy." Sans tapped the side of his coffee cup thoughtfully. "Actually, I'm kinda lookin' forward to the 'big reveal' now."

"Human skin is wonderful, I have to agree." Pap nodded. "I love the softness. It's like cuddling a pillow that's alive!"

"Hold on there, Norman Bates, that's kinda creepy." She didn't mean it, but it was adorable to watch Pap stumble over himself to apologize.

"Think about it this way, doll. We don't have skin, muscle, tendons, or fat, and we have no body heat other than what's generated by our magic, so that's not any real fun. Humans are…comfortable like a warm bed in winter." He leaned his head on his hand as he looked her; sockets half-closed and caught up in a soft expression she didn't know how to interpret.

"I suppose, when you put it that way it makes more sense. Sorry, I wasn't thinking." Now she felt bad because she'd been worrying herself over their sudden increase in friendly, physical gestures. It had probably been because they felt more at ease cuddling with her now, since she'd been living with them for over four months at this point.

"Don't beat yerself up," Sans rolled his eye lights. "I bet it does sound fucked up from your point of view."

"Language, Sans! How many times must I tell you?" Papyrus swatted his brother with his dish towel.

"One more time, bro, like always." Sans smirked into his mug and downed the rest of his breakfast in a single, hearty swallow. "Alright, I'm off. See ya, guys. Text me if ya need anythin'." He hopped off his chair right into a shortcut.

"He had enough time to wash his cup." Pap griped under his breath.

"The walking space heater has to head to work, too, I'm afraid." She curled her arms around his ribs in a brief hug and felt him suck in a sharp breath. She reasoned he must have been surprised that she was finally reciprocating all of the physical attention.

()()()

She gritted her teeth as the needle buzzed over her skin. It felt like a hundred bees were stinging her endlessly. She'd been in the chair for a smidgen over twenty minutes by now, but it'd felt as if she'd sat there for thrice that amount of time. She was hugging the backrest of a black, pleather seat while the tattoo artist worked his magic. This was her first session, the main goal of this appointment was to get all of the basic linework done, and her next session would be to fill in the details. Her final appointment would finish the piece with the colors she'd picked.

She'd wanted a tattoo ever since she was a pre-teen. She wasn't squimish at all and her pain tolerence was decent, so the only things that had held her back were her parents. She immediately rebuked herself for thinking that because it wasn't entirely true. She'd kept herself from getting one long after they were gone and not due to the religious standards they'd tried so hard to pass on to her. No, she'd done it because she'd been terrified of appearing less than feminine. She was already boyish; when she was in school a new kid had even asked her if she was transitioning. He hadn't been trying to be mean, yet it still felt awful to be misgendered. However, it felt worse still to realize that the aspects of herself that she had the least control over, her physical attributes, were a main cause.

Now, though, she found she gave less than zero fucks. She no longer had a boyfriend to impress. Her parents were no longer around to imbue within her a sense of feminine modesty. She was free of the guilt trip that long-winded sermons with nightmare-inducing descriptions of hellfire had beaten into her. She was free of the nagging need to find validation in the approving eyes of a lover. She was coming into herself, mythical gods and societal norms be damned, and nothing would stop her.

Not this time.

She sighed in relief when the tattoo gun withdrew. "You sure you want the piercing done today, too?" He asked as he patted her back down with a sterile cloth to dab away the droplets of blood and ink. He tossed the cloth into a biohazard waste bag, ejected the disposable needles and ink caps into a separate bag, and tossed everything into a labelled trash hatch in the wall.

She winced as she pulled herself up; she definitely wouldn't be sleeping on her back for a while. "Yep, I can handle it."

The tattoo artist, whose last name was Nedermyer, went by Needlemyer as a personal joke. Needlemyer pulled off his gloves to throw them away and then washed his hands thoroughly while he talked to her. "Usually we don't just go straight into another job. Nikki doesn't like us to have to clean the guns in front of customers, but I'll make an exception for you." He winked playfully over his brawny shoulder. "Lots of people come in here totally jazzed for a tat, but once they're under the gun they panic. You, though, have me impressed."

"I was just extremely determined to go through with it." She smiled back at him. "It did hurt a bit." She added sheepishly.

He rolled his eyes as he put the non-disposable equipment into the autoclave. "Of course it hurts! You didn't go yowling about it, though." He held up a finger for emphasis. "If I had a fiver for every time I had a whiner in my chair I'd own my own shop!" He put away the cleaned tools and started setting up the piercing gun. "Alrighty, you got a stud picked out?"

She pointed to a stud with titanium-coated rhinestones shaped into a simple flower. "This one's nice."

He put on a new pair of gloves and marked her nose with surgical marker. He loaded her chosen stud into the mechanism. "A little pop and you'll be golden."

Her eyes watered up as the piercing went through and she had to brace herself a little when he twisted the jewelry to fasten it. Afterward, he asked her a few questions about her skin care routine and recommended a generic anti-bacterial spray to keep infection at bay. She paid the full cost up-front, along with a smooth $100 tip, and bid him a happy goodbye.

She had come in, on Needlemyer's advice, without a bra to prevent friction and intended to follow his advice against wearing anything other than loose, cotton shirts for the first ten days. She had her next session scheduled in two weeks, plenty of time to heal, and she was super psyched to have the piece finished. She could now go home and enjoy the rest of her day off. She caught a taxi home and trotted up the driveway with a giant grin on her face.

Her grin faded when she saw, scrawled in scarlet spray-paint over the entirity of the front of the house, a message. It read; GTFO BOOGEYMEN! She swung around and swept her eyes all around her, half-expecting the vandals to be hanging around to see a reaction. When she realized no one had lingered, she immediately checked the door; Papyrus and Sans typically left it unlocked for her if they got home first. She was relieved to know that it was still locked. Her eyes narrowed and she hastily unlocked the door. She would clean this up before they got home and they would never know it happened. She wouldn't breathe a word of it.

She filled a bucket with soapy water and a rag. The paint had smelled wet, so she wouldn't need to go out to buy solvent. There was no point in calling the police over this. There was no way they could tell who had tagged her house without video evidence. She ran back outside, there was no time to waste because spray paint dries so fast, and began wiping away the graffiti. Her labor made the skin of her back burn as she stretched and strained to reach the entirity of the letters. She'd have to take a pill for the pain, she knew, but getting rid of this ignorant filth was worth a bit of discomfort.

Maybe she could convince Sans to invest in a serveillence camera. It was better to be safe than sorry and who could say that this would be an isolated incident? She couldn't bring herself to believe that it wouldn't be. Whoever did this hated monsters enough to go out of their way to risk tagging a house in broad daylight with racial slurs. Someone who was that dedicated would, no doubt, be a recurrent problem. 'Boogeymen' was a slur that had popped up not long after monsters had their first diplomatic interractions with humans. Other words were used, such as; fiends, faeks, and pucks. Boogeymen, though, was the most heavily used. It's origin was a bit more obvious and well-known than faek or puck, but that made it all the worse.

The paint stained her hands, the rag, and the water blood-red, but the majority of it was gone. The house would still have to be re-painted in certain patches because, solvent or no, the original paint had been ruined. She stepped back and sadly stared up at the panelling. Flecks of red dotted the surface and, while the words were no longer legible, the vandalism was still clear as day. She sighed in resignation as she heard Papyrus's car pull in the driveway behind her. She forced a smile, turned around, and waved at them.

He'd apparently picked Sans up from work, although Sans typically took a shortcut home. "Stella!" Pap stepped out of the car and shut the door behind him. "What happened?" He asked when he drew close enough to see the remnants of the paint.

She shrugged and regretted it because the action irritated her new tattoo. "Just some wild kids, I think." She made an effort to seem unconcerned and unaffected. "We're gonna have to pick up a bit of solvent and some paint to fix it."

Papyrus hummed, troubled by this new expense. "That is extremely unfortunate. I am glad you managed to remove most of it. Thank you for taking care of it."

"Yeah, thanks." Sans affixed her to the spot with a knowing stare. Could he really read her so well, she wondered, that he could divine the truth with only a glance?

That evening she dodged every question Papyrus threw her way that concerned the vandals and the graffiti. "Was it a picture or did it say something?" He didn't seem to want to drop it, perhaps because nothing else exciting had happened that day, but it was tiring to try to lie by omission.

"I…wasn't paying attention. I had to act quickly to remove the wet paint, so I didn't exactly take the time to get a good look at it." She swallowed her mouthful of potato soup and immediately stuffed her mouth with a bite of buttered bread to have an excuse to avoid further explanation.

"Are you sure you saw no one?" Pap blew lightly over his spoonful of soup to cool it down. He'd made two separate loaves of bread, a normal loaf and a magic one for Sans, because she'd recently learned that monsters had to occasionally eat special food. The special food was made from magic to boost their magical life force energy, which Sans apparently needed more often than a normal monster. The way Papyrus made it sound translated to Sans having something akin to a vitamin deficiency. It certainly explained Sans's lack of energy.

She stirred her soup. "Yeah. I think we should save up to get some cameras, just in case it happens again."

"How did your tattoo appointment go?" She silently blessed Sans for the change in subject. "I didn't know you wanted a piercing, too."

"Great! I'd show you, but I'm not allowed to take the bandages off for another couple of days." She tapped her nose. "When I got in there, a girl was getting an eyebrow piercing and I've always kind of wanted some piercings. It was kind of an impulse buy, but I'm happy with it."

He leaned in to see it better. "Yeah, it's pretty sweet."

Papyrus inspected her face next. "Is it supposed to be red and inflamed?" He asked in alarm.

She nodded. "It'll be like that for a while, probably a week or so, before it starts to heal. Don't worry, Pap, as long as I take good care of it, I'll be fine."

"It still amazes me that humans would imprint permanent pictures on the skin and poke holes in themselves for decoration." Papyrus peered at her back, as if he could stare through the fabric of her purple hoodie and see her skin. "If you wouldn't mind, I'd very much enjoy seeing it when it is finished!" He paused. "What is it supposed to be, exactly?"

"It's a tribute to my favorite musician." She chewed quickly through another mouthful of bread. "It's a barn owl clutching a crystal in its talons. The background is stormy and a streak of lightning is striking behind the owl." She chuckled because Papyrus seemed confused by the imagry. "It'll look awesome when it's finished, trust me."

"Y'know, you've been changin' a lot recently." Sans dipped a slice of his bread into the soup. "Maybe ya should slow down a bit. Don't push yourself. These are a lotta life-changin' decisions you're makin' a short amount of time. We don't wanna see ya work yerself into doin' something you're not ready for and end up regrettin' it."

She shook her head. "This isn't all coming out of the blue, although I appreciate your concern. I've wanted to do a lot of these things for years. I've wanted this tattoo for nearly eight and a half years. I finally had the courage and the money to go for it, so I figured why not?"

"You do seem much happier these days. It's a refreshing change." Papyrus added. "Oh, I forgot to ask! How do you like the potato soup? I think I did a much better job this time!"

"It's wonderful. The bacon was a nice touch. Did you get the recipe on line or did you improvise?"

The rest of the night went as peacefully as it usually did; her relaxing with both of them for an hour or so before bed and enjoying a bit of dessert. Tonight, Pap had made cinnamon apple muffins dusted generously with sugar. They were heaven and they more than made up for him nearly blowing out her stomach with that awful sushi.

When she finally turned in for the evening, she fell into a deep reverie. She'd been sleeping so much better recently. Her lifestyle change had made her so much happier. It was blissful. She could enjoy a sense of luxury she'd never experienced before and be guiltless about it. Tomorrow, she knew it was time for the most visible, dramatic part of her metamorphasis.

Early the next morning, she locked herself in the bathroom. Parting her hair was the most aggravating and time-consuming part, but now it was time for the big chop. Her hands shook and her palms were sweaty; the cheap metal and plastic of the clippers were smeared with the grease of her aprehensive ruminations. She had her eyes squeezed shut so tightly that her eyelashes were brushing butterfly kisses over her cheeks. Her lips were frozen; her lower lip was slightly folded over and pinned by her upper lip, which was braced by her front teeth.

The neverending vibration of the clippers marched up and down her arms. It was almost…soothing; as if the shears were stroking her lovingly and telling her to get it all over with. This is what she wanted, after all. This was something she'd wanted, and still yet feared out of a desire to please.

But she wasn't a people pleaser anymore. She was here to please herself. That was why she was standing in the bathroom with her hair sectioned out and a towel around her neck to catch the results. It was why there was a collection of temporary spray-on hair-color stored under the bathroom sink (recently bought and lovingly organized next to her make-up bag), so there was no going back now. She raised the clippers and carefully manuvered them down her scalp. Hairs floated gently down to cover the floor. As it happened, the first stroke was the only motivation she needed and she didn't stop. Only a wide, reddish-brown stripe down the middle of her head and two little tails of hair in front of her ears remained. The rest had been reduced to fuzzy, chestnut down.

She flipped her hair forward and carded it through with her fingers, which freed a great number of trapped hair bits. Other such pieces prickled her skin uncomfortably, but she was grinning at her new reflection. Stella cleaned up the mess of hair and stepped into the shower feeling more alive than she ever had.

When she had gotten dressed, she paused with only a single foot outside the bathroom. She could hear Papyrus messing around downstairs, but that wasn't what had captured her attention. Sans, who would normally be soundly asleep on the couch in front of the tv or locked in his room at this time of day, was standing stock-still in his doorway. His fingers were gripping the frame so hard that the wood was creaking. His eye lights were dark, as if he was sleep-walking. It was disconcerting to see his empty eyesockets staring straight ahead like he could see something she was blind to. "Sans?" She'd meant to speak properly, but her shock had seized control of her vocal cords, so that his name came out only as a petrified whisper.

He didn't respond, well he did, but it was not in a language she understood. It sounded like a dialect created by the sounds of arthritic bones rattling being overridden by static. A dialect because, somehow, it felt familiar to her ears. She was half-convinced that there were words there, hidden and struck out, although, it could have merely been her finding patterns in nonsense. There still remained the issue of Sans's alarming condition. His strange speech aside, she had to help. "Sans, you're sleepwalking." She closed the tiny distance between them and rested her hand on one of his exposed shoulder bones.

"Whahhh?!" He jerked awake with a snort. His left eye light blazed with magic. He didn't mean it, but she soon found herself telekinetically slammed into the ceiling.

Her head snapped against it hard and she groaned. "Got it. Lesson learned!" She sighed and rubbed the base of her skull. It was just one new injury to add to the list of sore places that remained from her 'adventure' the previous week. "Never wake a sleeping monster."

He scrubbed his tired eyes with his arm. "Shit, sorry. I'll get ya down."

Once her feet were safely on the ground, she yawned. It was too early for this kind of crap. Or maybe it was too late for it? That probably depended entirely on her tempestous moods. She'd gotten up feeling rested and optimistic about her future. Now, though, her head was pounding and she was half-heartedly re-thinking her decision to get up that day entirely. "Do you sleepwalk often?"

He played with a roll in the rug using one toe. "Not really. Just…some bad dreams an' all." He wiped a hand over his face. "Don't sound so damn worried, awright? Everybody gets nightmares." He kept fiddling with the rug as an excuse to avoid looking up. "Sorry about the whole throwing ya in the air thing."

She cocked her head inquisitively to the side. He was a terrible actor when it came to these situations. There weren't many things that could bother him, he was naturally a laid-back person, but it sort of irked her that he always lied whenever he _was_ stressed or upset over stuff. He'd done it twice before around her and had probably done it hundreds of times long before she'd haphazardly stumbled into his life. "How about you and I go for a stroll to get your mind off things?" She offered. He'd probably had such a terrible nightmare because he was stressing over something in the first place and that triggered the nightmare, which had only served to cause further anxiety. Exercise could work out that tension and some decent conversation, paired with a bit of sunshine, would probably go a long way in helping his mood.

"Sure, but are ya gonna go walkin' around in a robe?" He joked half-heartedly and gently tugged at the cloth belt that fastened her purple housecoat closed. "You'd be beatin' back thirsty suitors left an' right."

She blushed, but laughed all the same. "No need to be a smartass, Sans. You know I didn't mean _right now_. Anyway, if we go on a walk, it'll get Papyrus off your back about exercising for today." They both knew that Papyrus only nagged because he cared, but it was honestly a relief to get a break from it. "Your shift doesn't start for another three hours, so we have plenty of time."

He folded his arms over his bare ribcage. "Gimme a few minutes t' get all ready an' I'll meetchya at the door."

She hustled down to her room to change into something decent. Her housecoat, as Sans had implied, was a bit more revealing than what she typically wore outside. It was a new addition to her wardrobe; an indulgence she'd found that she could afford now that she was splitting rent and utilities with two other people. She smiled as she draped the richly toned, mauve satin over a foam-padded hanger and hung it on the back of her door. It would be gorgeous to wear over a bikini, but she wouldn't dare to wear it beyond the front door. It barely went past the middle of her thighs and was embroidered with delicate designs created from thread dyed to a lovely, goldenrod yellow. It was the most expensive bit of clothing she'd ever owned and she'd bought it as a reminder to treat herself reasonably often.

Still, she found herself intermittently wondering if she'd still be able to attract anyone. Her mother's voice echoed in her head. _You need to wear more dresses and skirts, sweetie! You'll never attract a man dressed like a ragamuffin._ She smiled bitterly and shook the memory away. It wasn't right to blame her mom for her hangups on expressing herself. Her sense of fashion and her parents' had always clashed; they'd grown up in chaste, religious environments with strong ideas regarding female modesty. She, on the other hand, preferred a darker, more revealing asthetic. That is, she'd preferred it back when she'd entertained a higher opinion of her body and attractiveness.

A glance in her closet these days revealed her transition back to those days of self-assurance. She kept a few of the modest, long-sleeved dresses, which were remnants of her mindset only a few months ago. However, the greater majority had been replaced with a mix of leather, fishnets, mini-skirts, flowy blouses in jewel-bright colors, and even a few more curious pieces. She was feeling a bit more energetic and in tune with herself today. Her questing hand landed on a green corset, and she pulled it from the depths.

It was a cold day, so she should opt for something to go under it, as it was a mainly decorative accessory. She had yet to work up the courage to purchase any of the real, lacy lingerie she'd forever lusted after. For now, she'd settle for alluring, playfully sexy pieces like this. A trace of guilt tainted her thoughts, as she could imagine her mother pulling a grimace at the garment. _Sinful_.

Her eyes drifted to the back of the closet and landed on a brown dress. She retrieved it and pulled it over her head. The neckline was square and plain, the sleeves ended at her elbows, and the edge brushed the skin just above her ankles. The corset had laces in the back and hooks in the front, so once it had been properly laced in the back, it was easy to just hook the front up. She'd already done the lacing with Papyrus's help back it had first arrived in the post. She examined her reflection in the floor-length mirror that was affixed to the door of her closet. She looked like a barmaid from the 1600s and it was kind of cute, but also sexy without showing more skin than she was comfortable with. As a final touch, she braided up her new hair and clipped it into place with a heavy, bronze, butterfly-shaped clip. The rhinestones on the clip caught the light and sparkled along the wings of the butterfly.

She slipped into a pair of brown, ankle-high shoes. They were sensible, but went well with her quirky choice in attire. This was a huge step; she'd not worn something this wild in years. It thrilled her a bit and she was excited to see Sans's reaction. He was used to seeing her in plain or more casual clothing like jeans and baggy shirts.

She ran into Pap on her way to meet with Sans. Pap was in the pantry filling up the shelves with groceries he'd bought earlier. He was an early bird, the type of person whose eyes (or eyesockets, in his case) flew open at exactly 6:00 am each day. "Hello, Stella. It is nice to see you are feeling so much better today!" He did a double-take. "Stella? What happened to your hair?!"

She grinned and ran her fingers over the shaved sides of her head. "It's called a deathhawk. I used to have one a long time ago, but I let it grow out. I decided I wanted to style it this way again." She spun around for him to get a 360 view. "You like it? Oh, you should feel the sides. It's kind of weird, but cool." She captured his hand and let him run his fingers through the short frizz.

He stroked from her temple, down to the nape of her neck, and dragged his hand forward to follow the line of her jaw. His cheekbones were kissed by a tinge of apricot by the time he brought his fingertips to the tip of her chin. For once, he was rendered silent.

"Is something wrong?" She searched his face for answers.

He seemed mesmerized and it took him a moment to compose a proper sentence. "I apologize, but your skin is…" He paused to hunt for an appropriate descriptor. "It feels like I'm petting a piece of fluffy bread!"

She burst out laughing and accidentally snorted. "You just made my day, you goof." She hugged him, oblivious to his nervous body language, before stepping around him. His odd compliments never ceased to brighten her mood. It was preferable to normal compliments, honestly, because those just tended to make her feel embarassed. Straight-up flattery made her uncomfortable, too, because it came off as manipulative. "Sans and I are going for a walk."

Papyrus relaxed. "How you manage to get my indolent brother out of the house is beyond my comprehension! I'm fairly sure that, if it weren't for us, his behind would have fused with the couch." He returned to stocking the pantry. "That being said, I appreciate how much you care about him." He mentioned in a softer, sweeter tone. "He doesn't take care of himself. I'm so relieved he's become attached to you, human. He's needed more reasons to get out of bed in the morning and, if I can be honest, I believe making a new friend has helped a lot." He sighed wearily. "I understand that Sans is an acquired taste. He constantly tests my own patience, however you must know that it is not his fault."

She sensed that she'd accidentally popped the tab on a massive can of worms. "What do you mean?"

"Sans is…delicate. You've felt his magic, I know you have personally witnessed his power, but I am speaking specifically of his HP." He fumbled with the mass of plastic bags on the floor and stuffed them into the recycling sack that hung from the wire shelving. "If he is hurt, even the smallest scratch, his health is so poor that he would turn to dust. He can protect himself, but he is often careless and I'm afraid he may overextend himself one of these days." He rested his skull against the shelf. "We have both experienced things that took a large toll on our mental and emotional health. I dealt with my own feelings a long time ago with exercise and focus. Sans, however, is more sensitive. He's always been prone to melancholy, but it's spiralled out of control in only the past century. He refuses to talk to me about it, he refuses to even acknowledge that I remember what happened, and his way of dealing with his problems is to sleep his life away or drown his sorrows in greasy food and ketchup."

It would be a lie to say that she hadn't noticed. Sans was severely depressed, but she couldn't have guessed how awful his situation was. What had happened to her friends? "Was it the war?"

"Hm?" Pap pulled away from the shelf. "Oh, no. That is not it. He lost his lovers in the war and that embittered him, but that's not the cause of his depression."

"You remember Calibri and Cambria?" She was surprised. Sans had said that Papyrus had been too young to know about them.

"Yes, they were lovely." He said fondly. "Sans, as I said, has fooled himself into believing that I recall nothing about those days or the war…I shouldn't discus this without him." Papyrus tucked his lanky arms behind his back. "Perhaps, one day, we will sit down and explain. I know he doesn't act like it, but he's grown fond of you. Fonder, I think, than he'd admit. I adore you and I would announce it to the world with a megaphone if you didn't mind, but he's more subtle. It takes time and great effort on his part to express his real feelings."

She smiled widely. "You adore me? I love being around you, too!"

He ducked his head and blushed. "Oh…wowie…I'm ecstatic you feel that way!" He gathered his confidence. "Of course, you'd enjoy being around me. I should have known!" He pressed his hands on her shoulders. "But now, I must get to the housework and you should go walk my brother!" He shooed her out of the pantry and seemed intent on escorting her all the way out to the driveway.

She had a lot to consider now that she'd had such a heavy conversation with Papyrus. She didn't know if she should try bringing any of what she'd learned up to Sans or if it was too soon. "Yo, what took ya so lo-…" He stiffened and his mandible went a bit slack.

"Brother, I am proud of you for taking innitiative with your health! Stella is a grand influence. I hope that you both have an invigorating time!" Papyrus lifted Stella into the air like she was made of feathers and placed her beside Sans. He patted her head sweetly and made to go back inside.

THWACK!

A brick flew through the air and struck the house only a few inches from Pap's shoulder. He whirled around. The trio of roommates all combed the area with their eyes for the source of the projectile. Across the street, which accounted for the inaccuracy of the projectile's trajectory, a handful of teenagers were congregated.

Stella acted before either brother, jumped the porch railing, and started to stomp over to the kids. Her face was twisted into a murderous snarl. The teens glanced at each other worriedly, but none of them seemed to want to come off as a coward. After all, she was a woman half the height of the shortest kid in the group. One of the teens, a blond boy with thick cheeks, chucked a brick at her with a nervous laugh.

The brick skidded to a halt just beyond the toe of her left shoe. She picked it up and kept walking. Papyrus and Sans were calling out to her, but she couldn't hear them over the sound of her fury boiling over. She crossed the street and, still, none of the kids made any move to back down. She was gripping the brick so hard that her knuckles had gone white. She was breathing hard through her nose and her body vibrated from the force of her impassioned state. A blizzard of bricks, some narrowly missing her head and one grazing her upper arm, fell upon her, but she did not stop approaching until she stood nose to chest with the blond boy. She glowered up at him and flung the brick to the ground only centimeters from him. It hit the ground so hard that it kicked up a bit of dust that coated the boy's shoes. "I am going to ask you a question and you are going to answer it or I am going to have all of you in juvenile court for unprovoked assault." She growled through her teeth.

"Y-you can't do that…" One of the teens piped up. "W-we're minors."

"Assault by a minor is still assault, you little miscreant." She hissed. "And juvenile court _is_ for minors." She turned her attention back to the blond boy. "Now, who told you that doing something like this was okay?"

"You live with those monsters!" A girl in the group accused. She pointed at Stella. "My dad said that monsters are-"

"I've got some bad news for you, kid." Stella snapped back before the girl could finish her ignorant sentence. "Your dad isn't in charge of Ebotton." She pinched her nose and forced herself to calm down. "Even if he was, it wouldn't change the fact that monsters are people and people deserve respect. If I came to your home, a place that your parents have worked hard to earn and slaved away to fill with the things your family needs, and started tossing bricks at you…how would you feel?"

"Monsters aren't humans. They don't feel." The boy in front of her mumbled.

"Dogs aren't human and cats aren't human, but would any of you throw bricks at your pets?"

"No! I'd never hurt my dog!" A brunette, hazel-eyed boy spoke up. The rest of his group stared at him like he'd betrayed them. He gulped and shook his head. "Well, I wouldn't!"

She sighed, exhasperated. "Monsters feel; they can have nerves, muscles, tendons, organs, skeletons, and skin like humans. They have emotions that are as legitimate as any human's. They have minds. When you treat people like this for superficial differences, you are making them out to be less than animals." She glanced around at the group and sensed that they were cracking; she was making headway. "Haven't any of you ever been treated poorly for being different?"

There was a long pause, but the blond boy spoke. "When I was seven, another kid used to make fun of my hair and stuff. He called me straw-head and said I looked like a Hitler Youth. He used to yell out 'HEIL' at me all the time." He scuffed his shoes into the dirt. "It pissed me off because I'm ethnically Jewish."

She nodded enthusiastically. "See, it's like that! That other kid was judging you on your looks and didn't bother with facts or your feelings. How you felt when that kid bullied you is how monsters feel when humans bully them."

"Don't listen to her, guys. Let's just fucking go. This isn't fun any more." Grumbled the girl and she turned away and started walking. A few followed her, but the blond boy and three others stayed behind.

"Forget about them." She drew the rest of their attention away from their departing friends. "Their hostility won't grant them popularity or any real loyalty. If they don't change, they'll end up alone until the day they die. Every step of the way, they'll blame everyone else. It's no way to live, trust me." She stepped back into a less aggressive position. She smiled warmly. "If you want, I'll take you over and you can meet some monsters for real."

The tiny group couldn't meet her eyes, but they dropped their bricks. "Won't they hate us?"

"You've gotta apologize, but I'm sure that they'll forgive you." She waved over at Sans and Papyrus. "In fact, my friend Papyrus is an amazing cook and he'd probably love to make you something if you want to stay for lunch." She chuckled and cupped her hand over the side of her mouth. "You didn't hear this from me, but if he mentions anything about 'experimenting' or 'trying a new recipe', you might wanna just skip lunch." She shrugged nonchalantly. "Unless you four have something better to do, I mean, it _is_ a Saturday, so…"

The four teens shook their heads sheepishly. They even introduced themselves. The big, blond boy's name was Harry. His best friend, a short and slightly chubby boy, was called Terry. Terry and Sarah, a similarly built girl with dark hair, were fraternal twins. The last one to introduce himself was a young boy of color whose name was Jeremy, but he went by Jerry. "Harry, Terry, Jerry, and Sarah." She laughed a little. "Well, at least I'm probably going to remember your names."

Her skeleton roommates stood, completely gobsmacked, while she led the parade of teens up to the porch. One by one, the group apologized sincerely. They even had the presence of mind to appear embarrassed over what they'd done. Sans mumbled and watched them suspiciously, meanwhile Papyrus eagerly accepted their apologizes and invited them all inside. "Please, forgive the mess! I haven't gotten to work on the living room yet!" He said as he ushered them all indoors.

Sans restrained himself until he was alone with her. "What the hell did ya do that for?" He stepped forward to confront her. "Ya could've gotten hit in the head by one of those bricks!" He summoned a handful of magic and tended to the scratch on her arm, the brick that had hit her had torn the fabric of her dress and drawn a bit of blood. She hadn't really noticed it because she was so furious when it happened.

"Sans, it's okay. When things like this happen, we can't just ignore them. I think we could make a difference with these kids. If we can change their minds…" She watched her flesh knit back together under his ministrations. "It's more important that we change hearts and minds, rather than let the racism fester. Racism is weak, if it's challanged, the entire mentality behind it breaks apart."

"Ya don't need to go riskin' anythin' over us." He groused. "Most people these days don't pay monsters any mind. There's a few stupid assholes, but it's better than it was when we first broke the barrier four years ago."

"Just because it's better doesn't mean we should accept these types of actions!" She broke free of his grip. "I'm very grateful for your concern, but I really wish you could accept that I wasn't in any true danger. They were just copying their parents and I could tell that once I started talking to them. I can handle myself."

"Damnit, stop bein' so stubborn!" He clutched at her arms and yanked her down the six inches it took to get down to his level. They glared at each other for half a second before he roughly pressed his teeth to her lips.

Her eyes flew wide and jerked backward. He cused and drew back, looking a bit drunk. "Sans…" His name was a breathy whisper. "Sans…you know…you know I'm not…" It hurt to try to finish what she'd begun.

He had his skull in his hands. "Fuck, I know, I know. Shit, I'm sorry. I don't know what the hell I was thinkin'." He kicked the side of the porch. "It's just…ugh…ya came here and I was just numb to everythin', but then ya start treatin' Pap so well. Do you even fuckin' know how people treat him?" He scoffed. "He's just tryin'. He actually fuckin' tries, but nobody else ever saw that. You're the only one besides me who takes him seriously at all. I love that, ya know?" He paced the short spanse of the porch. "You try, too. You're fightin' and I admire that a whole fuckin' lot. You got beat down into a rut, but ya figured yourself out and got right back into the game." He groaned. "I just…I wanna be like that."

She sighed. "Sans," She leaned against one of the porch supports. "I don't know how to explain myself delicately, but even if I were ready-"

"You're not interested." He replied bleakly.

She shook her head. "No! It's the opposite. I can't choose."

He jerked his skull around. "What?"

She shifted uncomfortably. "I already know Pap has a crush on me. He's pretty obvious about it, but he's super sweet and shy, too. I didn't realize you held anything except platonic feelings for me until now." She rolled her shoulders in an effort to relieve the stress that was building up. "I refuse to be a source of competition. Both of you like me and I like both of you, but if you're going to ask me to choose one or the other, I'd rather just stay friends and pretend we never had this conversation."

He moaned. "That's not an issue. Pap an' I have been talking 'bout this for _weeks_. Pap's told me so many times how happy he'd be if we could convince ya to give both of us a chance. Not one of us, _both of us_. We agreed to wait to bring it up until ya seemed like you were ready." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Then I went an' fucked it up."

"You…you didn't fuck up anything." She replied softly. "If you and Pap can wait, I can't give you a time frame, but if you can…I'd like to try. But, Sans, we both need to iron out our issues before we can have anything close to a healthy relationship. Believe me, it'll be better, especially if we make an effort together. We need to take steps, maybe see a therapist. If anything, we owe it to Papyrus." She went to his side. "It could take a long time. I'll understand if you aren't prepared for it, but it's my only stipulation." She opened her hands and massaged his shoulder bones. "If it's too much, we can forget we ever spoke about it."

"No, I don't wanna forget it." He pulled her forward into a hug. "I can wait. I promise we'll do this the right way. I wanna build somethin' with you. I haven't felt like this for…too long." He drew back enough to look her in the eye. "Now, c'mon, we've got kids to mentor."


End file.
